


Double Knot

by StaysBlossom



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Missions, Okay Somewhat platonic, Platonic Relationships, Violence, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29231802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaysBlossom/pseuds/StaysBlossom
Summary: Mafias exist. They have been a thing for years and Hyunjins father had told him strict rules to follow just because people couldn’t be trusted. And he listened, well, at least Hyunjin tried to. He and his bad luck now has him running for his life in zig zag lines just to dodge bullets being shot at him. That is until he’s pulled into a dark alleyway and is forced to fully dive into the word of Mafias where he learns things he never wanted to.**NOW CROSS WRITTEN ON WATTPAD**
Relationships: Bang Chan/Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Hwang Hyunjin/Everyone, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	1. Prologue

3 Years ago

It all happened so fast. One second he was parking his bike and the next he was running for his god forsaken life. All he knew was his bike fell over, somehow scratched the car next to it and now he was running from members of one of the most popular mafia groups.

_Damnit, Damnit, Damnit!_

He cursed in his head. He wasn't sure on what to do at this point. He knew he'd get tired, slow down and then he would be royally screwed.

He tried be brave, he even had the guts to turn around a flip the guys behind him off. Which was very dumb because they looked even more mad and their pace quickened. So, At this moment bravery wasn't going in his favor.

So now he was scared, he now knew that for sure after the bravery quickly disappeared. He was only running from 3 guys, but each had to have had a gun, a knife and whatever other murder weapon possible. He couldn't stop. His life actually depended on it.

He wanted to cry at this point, But he couldn't. His breathing would become uneven and come out in short gasps as he would try to cope with his tears. What made him want to cry even more though was the aching and burning that was becoming a feeling in his legs.

_Why don't i ever listen to father?!_

He wanted to slap himself, mentally and physically. His father had always told him to be careful when going out at night because the city had its own night terrors.

His father would tell him to watch everything he did when going out. Watch who your taking to, always treat them with respect. Be careful to not touch or break anything that isn't yours unless given permission. And one of the weirdest things was to hide his face.

He never understood that one, but just guessed that if he did piss someone off and they saw his face, they would somehow track him, and kill him. And he didn't want that, so he listened to every instruction and rule his father gave him.

Until now, where the worst of his luck reached him and fucked up his life.

The burning was becoming worse and he could hear the pounding foot steps and yelling get closer and closer. There were tears begging to fall but he couldn't, not now.

But he wanted to freeze the second he heard someone clock their gun.

_So they're gone shoot at me now!?_

His mind had officially gone into a frenzy. He's gonna die, that was a thought that was specifically running wild up in there.

_"If you ever are getting shot at, run in zig zags and random patterns. It'll be harder for them to aim at you when they can't predict your movements and you keep moving."_

His father told him that, and he was so thankful he remembered it now.

So he did. He ran in random patterns, never repeating them same pattern to avoid his predators from catching on. And even though he felt safer and smart in the situation now, he was still dying on the inside.

The burning in his legs had only gotten worse and now they were starting to numb. And the guys behind him were getting closer as the bullets whizzed past him, hitting cars and shattering their windows, or hitting random newspaper stands, causing the paper to fly out.

He was sure he was done for, the numbness was succumbing and he was slowing down.

_I'm fucked._

Well at least that's what he had thought. In passing an alleyway a hand reached out and dragged the boy into it. A hand covered his mouth as he thrashed around in his captors grasp.

It wasn't until he was actually in captivity that the adrenaline was rushing and he was fighting for his life. The captor dragged him further in the alleyway and around a corner that blended with the dark.

He could hear the others that were chasing him earlier shout in confusion. They had seen him get pulled into an alleyway but in looking into it they couldn't see him. So they just hoped they had gotten back up and that their team members were already taking him to their base.

The boy though continued to thrash around. He could care less if the previous enemy was gone, he was now in someone else's hands and that seemed worse.

"Shhh! Please calm down. We aren't going to hurt you." His captor whispered.

_We? No going to hurt me?_

He didn't know what to trust, and seeing as he was now captured he let the tears fall. He couldn't control it, and although he had so much adrenaline before, it was now dissipating and he was just full on scared.

He was shaking in the captors grasp as the tears fell, his captor just staring down at him in shock.

"Please don't cry. I promise you're okay." Another voice spoke, a boy coming out of the shadows and coming over to the boy and his captor.

"I think you can let him go. He seems shaken enough as is." The same boy spoke.

The guy holding the boy let go, the scared boy falling to his knees and shaking to death.

"P-Please i beg. D-Don't hurt m-me." He whimpered, not taking notice of the soft vibe coming from the two standing next to him.

The one that has done all the talking squatted down in front of the boy, pulling his black mask down to show his full face.

"I'm Bang Chan, or just Chan. And i promise we aren't going to hurt you. Are you okay?" The man, Chan, spoke, softly to not scare the boy further.

The boy was still shaking, and he wasn't even attempting to be brave anymore. He was so lost in fear that words weren't coming to mind, he wasn't thinking clearly.

Chan sighed, turning to his partner.

"I see. Changbin let's take him back to the base. He's too shaken up to think right now."

The other boy, Changbin, nodded. Doing his best to help the shaken boy stand, then Chan picked him up and carried him on his back.

"W-Where are.... w-we going." The boy spoke on Chan's back.

"To our base. You'll be safe there i promise. Although after tonight i don't know how likely it'll be that you can leave." Chan told him, not getting much of a reaction yet from the boy.

"Can we know your name?" Changbin asked from behind the two. He had been walking behind them to keep look out.

"It's ahh—uh H-Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin." The boy told them, his nerves slowly calming down when he was starting to understand that these two weren't a threat.

But He did miss the flinch from the other two when mentioned his name.

"Well nice to meet you Hyunjin. Mind me asking how you got involved with one of the most popular and wanted mafia groups?" Chan asked, eyeing the boy suspiciously from the side.

"M-My bike fell over...scratching their car." Hyunjin mumbled, not very thrilled by the whole situation he had to remember.

After a couple seconds of silence, the two laughed, causing a confused face to crawl onto Hyunjin's.

"What's so f-funny?" He asked, fixing his grip on Chan, not wanting to fall.

"Just your luck is impeccable." Changbin told him, his laughter calming down along with Chan's.

Hyunjin wanted to hide.

"Noted." He sighed, really wanting to hide his face in Chan's neck. Anything to hide himself from the world.

After a couple more minutes of silent walking, They stopped in front of a tall building, one behind all the others and farther into the forest behind all the buildings.

"Please don't be alarmed by the guys inside. They can be loud, rude and crazy but they'll warm up to you. I hope." Chan explained, mumbling that last part.

They walked inside, the place looking way nicer on the inside than the outside.

Well these guys obviously have money.

Hyunjin couldn't stop staring at the insides, although it wasn't like he wasn't used to the richness of interior designs. He lived in a rich family, his dad being the owner of some big business. Still, just seeing someone else's rich home was weird.

Chan sat Hyunjin down on the couch, said boy immediately curling into himself. Sure he didn't feel as unsafe as before but he was still in unknown grounds.

The two in front of him smiled lightly before Chan turned to yell;

"Guys! Meeting in the living room please?"

Hearing the shuffling and shouting coming from upstairs as it followed into the room he was in, Hyunjin scooted to the far end of the couch, curling more into himself.

Not seeming to notice the scared boy, 5 others boys came bouncing in, some taking a calm approach as they sat on the couch and some jumping onto it.

"What's up?" One asked, attention given to the two boys that still stood.

Not saying a word, Chan turned his eyes towards Hyunjin, who felt uncomfortable the moment all attention was turned to him.

A boy stood up, quickly whipping out a gun.

"Spy?! Mafia Enemy?! Traitor?!" He shouted, aiming his gun right at the boy who's fear was instantly gushing back into his system.

This caused the others to get all riled up, which consisted of a ton of loud yelling. Chan only sighed as he watched his fellow members be idiots.

"If he was any of that, any threat to us, do you really think i'd let him sit casually on the couch?" He told them, knocking the common sense right back into their skulls.

They calmed down, putting any weapons away and those that stood up sat back down, still eyeing the boy with looks that could kill.

"This is Hyunjin. He was being chased by Forstrayer. And now he's here, so treat him kindly." Changbin explained.

With his nerves and fear being in control earlier, Hyunjin didn't like the way this sounded.

"You make that sound like i'm not leaving." He murmured, seeing some of the boys faces soften after he spoke.

Chan sighed for maybe the 10th time that night. But his face softened as well, not wanting to strike fear.

"Because you aren't. Now before you start screaming, yelling, whatever you could do to get out of here, there are reasons." Chan explained.

Hyunjin, worried as hell, didn't say anything. He just stared at Chan, begging him to continue.

"I have no doubt that soon, other Mafia groups will learn of you and your correlation to us. They'll see you as a tool, a weakness to get through to us. And seeing as your just an innocent guy, i can't let you go through that." Chan told him, his face still soft and full of worry.

And as much as Hyunjin wanting to scream and retaliate, he somewhat understood. He would much rather be safe in someone's hands then feel safe but have someone possibly stalking his every move. But upon hearing the way that Chan said he was a weakness, he wanted to condense into himself.

"I-I understand. B-But i don't want to be a weakness." He told Chan, finally composing himself to be serious and not such a wimp, at least in his eyes.

"So what are you implying?" Chan asked, his face turning into a puzzled one.

Hyunjin hopes perked up, "I want to learn to fight. I don't want to be a useless being that's only here for your protection."

Chan only nodded, going quiet for a couple seconds before turning to his group. He pulled them all into a small huddle, discussing something Hyunjin couldn't hear.

And after a couple minutes they all pulled out of the huddle.

"Okay Hyunjin. Considering you here until who knows, we will teach you how to fight. You are also now part of Stray kids[SKZ]. Once you learn to fight and do everything us Mafias do, you can start going on missions and going out more." Chan exclaimed, his face stern as he explained.

Hyunjin nodded, not helping to smile, but he was officially exhausted by the night as he felt his eyelids start to get heavy.

"Than that's it, Jisung will you show him the spare bedroom?" Chan asked.

Said, Jisung, boy stood from the couch, gently grabbing Hyunjin's hand before leading him upstairs.

"If your worried don't be. It's not as bad as you may think." Jisung comforted him, opening the door to which Hyunjin presumed was his new room.

It was a simple but nice room, just like his at home. Home. Who knew when he'd see that place again.

"Oh and do you have your phone on you by chance?" Jisung asked before he left the room.

Hyunjin again nodded, pulling it from his back pocket, handing it to Jisung. Who grabbed it and chucked it at the floor, it's screen shattering. Before Hyunjin could yell at the boy he put his hand up.

"We will get you a new one. But Chan was worried that people would be able to track this one. So we will get you a new one to start over with." Jisung explained, giving him a comforting smile before walking out.

Hyunjin who was just to lost in thought, walked over and collapsed onto the bed. He didn't care to change, heck he didn't even have any clothes to change into.

Simply just being exhausted, he fell asleep right then and their.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys! So this is my first fanfic on this website, so i do hope you guys enjoy it! This story will also be on wattpad at some point. I want to add that the way some characters are in this book is not how i see them in real life. This book is truly a work of fiction. Things in this story also move a tad bit fast. So at this rate, i have no clue how many chapters there will be. But i do try and write long chapters to make up for everything. There may or may not be slow updates, it just depends on my schedule but i will try and inform you every chapter if something happens. Anywho, thank you for reading so far! <3


	2. Night Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stray kids go on a night mission that leads to Hyunjin getting suspicious about a certain man he’s seen more than he wants to.

_Present_

" _Hyunjin do you have the target on lock?_ " He heard Chan ask in his earpiece.

"Yup, clear as day." Hyunjin replied, looking through the scope of his sniper.

He himself was sat on the top of the building next to the one the target was in. He was unnoticeable; Black jacket with hood up, black mask to hide his identity, and just black clothes overall.

He just waited, side pieces of blonde hair blowing in his face as he watched the enemy fight Minho and Felix in the apartment he had in his sites. And although the enemies movements were quick to dodge his members attacks, he moved in slow motion to Hyunjin.

"Just tell me when Chan." Hyunjin spoke to his earpiece, getting silence which was an 'okay' from what he had learned over the years.

It had been three years since he was 'taken.' And it still shocked him sometimes when he thought about how easily he moved on. He didn't think about his family much, and he was an only child so there wasn't even a sibling to consider missing.

And he had realized a hidden frustration with his family, which probably led to the free feeling that filled his heart instead of sadness.

He knew that his family was trying to protect him by keeping him inside, giving him many rules on the rare occasions he could go out, but now that he's part of a Mafia, he really wonders what he was being shielded from.

" _Now_." He heard Chan calmly tell him.

Hyunjin didn't hesitate to lock back in, tracking the enemies next move, before he pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzing through the air, shattering the apartment room window, lodging itself straight into the targets skull. The man obviously dead in an instant, falling to the floor with a thud.

" _Nice shot, as usual._ " He heard Felix this time compliment him through the earpiece. And he didn't miss the thumbs up he got from his two comrades still in the room.

"Meet y'all back down at the Van." He told them, taking out the earpiece knowing he would be needing it the rest of the night.

He got up from his little perch, taking down the sniper stand and folding it to place it in the long suitcase next to him. Next was the sniper, turning the safety on, he then placed it in the suitcase as well.

"Damn i'm exhausted, and all i did was pull a trigger." He grumbled, opening the roof top door before walking down the stairs.

He reached the floor where the apartments started and immediately found the elevator. There was no way in hell he was taking the stairs all the way down the endless amount of floors.

Pressing the button for the lobby he went to one of the back corners of the elevator, leaning himself against the wall as he waited for it to go down.

The doors were finally closing when a hand quickly shot through, making them open again.

Hyunjin froze, his breathing coming to a quick halt.

"So sorry, i couldn't wait." The man chuckled, proceeding to quietly enter the elevator, making his way to the opposite back corner. Seeing as he was just a innocent guy, Hyunjin stabilized his breathing.

The mans eyes were immediately drawn to the long suitcase Hyunjin was holding.

"Going out to work this late? That must suck." He exclaimed, his eyes moving up to meet Hyunjins as he waited for a response.

Hyunjin didn't want to meet this persons glare, so he continued to keep his eyes glued to the floor.

"It actually isn't so bad, i'm a night owl anyway." Hyunjin told the man, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

"Ah, i guess that's good then. I've noticed that a lot of teens your age are like that too. But that probably just means y'all are up to somethi—" The man was quickly interrupted by the ding of the elevator, signaling they had reached the bottom floor.

Without a word, Hyunjin rushed out of the elevator. He didn't bother to turn around nor give the man glance. He didn't like the guys vibe and wasn't gonna let himself be drawn in by his own curiosity and suspicion.

He sped out of the building, only sparing a look behind him when he finally exited. Seeing as no one was following, he circled to the back of the building where a black van hid in the shadows.

Not trusting the environment anymore he ran over to the van, flinging open a door and hopping, proceeding to slam the door shut.

"Rushed much?" Seungmin asked, noting the stiffness and quickness of the boy that just entered the van.

"Yeah, i'm tired." Hyunjin lied, although it wasn't a full on lie, it just wasn't his reason for being rushed.

Seungmin only nodded, he knew Hyunjin was lying, but wasn't gonna push it.

"Where are the others?" Hyunjin asked, turning to the other younger who was sitting on his phone in the back of the van.

Jeongin looked up and shrugged. His eyes then lit up as he pointed to the screen that Seungmin was watching that showed the view of the camera that was attached to the outside of the van.

"They're coming back now." Seungmin told them, following Jeongins point till he too noticed the familiar movement on the screen.

And in the next minute the van door was pulled open, revealing 5 other tired looking men.

Jisung, who carried a long case like Hyunjin had, sat across from said boy.

"Your lucky, i wanted to snipe his head off today." He grumbled, putting on a playful pout.

Hyunjin shrugged, too tired to deal with Jisungs whining and still not over the weird feeling he got from that guy.

"Then come along with me and Chan next time." Changbin spoke, taking a seat next to the pouting boy.

"And what did y'all do again?" Jisung griped, knowing the answer.

"We explored the apartment while Minho and Felix distracted the guy." Changbin returned, remaining calm to frustrate the younger more.

"Yeah cause that sounds fun." Jisung mumbled, realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with his Hyung.

"Alright, Alright. We all did good tonight. So how about we stop and get some food?" Chan suggested, immediately grabbing the attention of all the boys in the van.

And as easy as that, it was decided they be stopping to get food. Which Hyunjin didn't mind, but he was probably more tired than he was hungry. And now he was going to be eating which would give him energy. When all he wanted to do was sleep, he didn't want to be energized.

But he kept his mouth shut, seeing as how his members were so excited for food. He didn't want to be the one to drag everyone's mood down.

"Are we going in or drive through?" Felix asked, containing his drool when the sent of chicken filled his nostrils.

"Ah some of us can go in, while the rest stay in the van. Who wants to go in?" Chan asked, turning around from the steering wheel to face the others.

Jisung smirked. He had noticed Hyunjin was tired and decided to joke around with him. He shot his own hand up and then grabbed Hyunjins, raising it up as well.

Chan quickly took note of this action and decided to play along, not really caring for Jisung's reasoning.

"Okay then, Hyunjin, Jisung, come with me, you guys text me your orders." Chan told them, leading the other two out the van.

"Isn't this like the 5th time we've had Panda Express this month?" Hyunjin groaned. He guessed he had spaced out when they talked about where they were gonna get food.

Maybe he should've paid attention to avoid the stomach troubles Panda Express gave him....for the 5th time that month.

"Panda Express is amazing though, don't lie to yourself." Jisung bickered back, obviously in a playful tone, not intending to start any arguments.

Chan just kept silent as he smiled at the two youngers. He had come to realize that when the two bickered like they did now it was just fun and games. And not a day went by where the playful arguments couldn't be heard.

They walked into the Panda express, thankful to see a short line. Probably because it was like 10:30 and by now many people had already had their last meal of the day.

They hopped in line and waited silently, both Chan and Jisung on their phones as the line slowly moved.

Hyunjin didn't bring his phone is sadly, which was a dumb idea seeing as his two members were now in the virtual world of phones as he stood awkwardly next to them. He looked around seeing many vacant tables, many people doing as they were; order and go.

But he did notice a table that set his nerves off.

_Just a coincidence, surely._

At a table sat a man, to be exact, the same man Hyunjin saw in the elevator about 35 minutes ago. But still seeing this man worried him. He pulled his hood back over his small ponytail and then his black mask higher above his nose.

"Are you cold Jin?" Chan asked, using Hyunjins code name due to them being in public.

"Yeah, just cold." He replied, but he was using that as a fake conversation. As he spoke he used his eyes to talk instead.

He would look Chan in the eyes, then look over to the man at the table, then repeating so Chan would understand.

"Ah okay, well when we get in the car we can turn the heater up more." Chan told him, letting him know that he did take note of the man. Although he wasn't sure why Hyunjin was pointing him out.

Looking Hyunjin dead in the eyes now, knowing he had his attention, he started blinking. Long blinks, short and fast blinks, and pauses.

.-- .... .- - / .- -... --- ..- - / .... .. --

_(What about him?)_

Hyunjin quickly read Chan's code, making sure no one was looking at him before he returned the code.

.... . / .-- .- ... / .. -. / - .... . / . .-.. . ...- .- - --- .-. / .-- .. - .... / -- . / .- ... / .. / .-.. . ..-. - / - .... . / -... ..- .. .-.. -.. .. -. --.

_(He was in the elevator with me as i left the building)_

Chan, being the expert of morse code, easily got what hyunjin was saying. He patted Hyunjins shoulder to ease him, like telling himself it was going to be alright.

They had ordered everyone's food and quickly left Panda Express, Chan's eyes being on a swivel as they did. Although he was used to being on guard like this. It wasn't anything new, when you decide to by the good guys in the mafia world, your gonna have mafia groups who want to put an end to you.

That was one thing about this mafia group that made them stand out, made them different. Sure the killing and everything mafias did were the same, but their targets and reasoning were different and made you see them in a different light.

In another sense, Stray kids targeted other mafia groups or bad people in general. The man they killed tonight was what people called the _Woman Thief._ He would go to bars and other places where he could find distracted and unaware woman, take them, and than the next day you would find them dead.

He would take them to satisfy his 'needs', then proceed to rob them after getting their bank information, and finally put them on their death bed. But because the woman he took never saw the light of the day again, they could never get a witnesses vision on how the man looked.

But after Seungmin researched and learned the places this man often went to, he was able to gather names, locations and other information simply through the mans purchase history. Through that he gained the mans card number, and then was able to find his bank account through that.

Finally they were able to learn his name, his most recent housing and now the _Woman Thief_ was on his own death bed.

Chan's eyes were peeled all the way to the Van, where he was even the last one to get in just to make sure no enemies rushed them while their backs were turned. And once inside he got in the drivers seat and started up the van.

"Chan are you not gonna sit an eat first?" Minho asked, noticing the leaders different actions than normal.

"It's possible we are being watched, or followed at this point." He responded, putting the van in drive.

The boys stayed quiet the rest of the way home, which took longer than normal because Chan decided to take extra routes just to confuse any possible followers. They even took the back route so that the van couldn't be seen parked in front of their home.

"Alright, Hurry inside guys." Chan said, putting the van in park and pulling out the keys. Even though he was sure if anyone followed they had lost them, he still got out and watched his members backs. 

"Who do you think was possibly following us?" Jeongin asked, everyone now inside and sitting at the main table.

"That's the thing, i don't really know. Because it's obviously possible that the woman thief could have had allies, but then how would they know we were going to be there? Then there's also the possibility of it being Forstrayer, but again what connections could they have had to the woman thief and how would they know we were there?" Chan questioned, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

He didn't like when his members were possibly in danger.

"Well right now we don't have enough information to even attempt to figure out who it could've been. That is even if it wasn't some coincidence! You know Jin, he gets tired or scared and sees things." Seungmin told the group. With him being in charge of watching cameras, hacking and tracking, he had yet to see anything that would prove dangerous. And plus he was tired so he was getting grumpy.

"Yeah...Seungmin's probably right. Imma head off to bed then. Good night guys." Hyunjin said, quickly getting up from the table and making his way upstairs to his room.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Felix turned to Seungmin, glaring holes into his head.

"Oi, just because he's been in this business less time than you have doesn't mean you can pick at him. You know that when he's tired or scared his mind gets the best of him, don't make him feel worse about it than he already does." Felix griped, making seungmin hang his head low.

Felix getting mad was a rare occasion, but when he did it was scary and immediately made you feel bad.

But as for Hyunjin, he was an over thinker. Ever since that night he was 'taken' his fears can get the best of him. He could be taking the trash out and suddenly panic because he thinks someone will start running after him, or he thinks he sees a person when in fact it's just a tree.

There were times where he would be using the restroom and have to check behind the shower curtain and in the bathroom closet to make sure no one was there, to make himself feel safe.

The fear that hit him that night, being in the dark and so many things happening, kind of stuck. Though he didn't blame Chan or Changbin, he couldn't, they saved him. He blamed his own mind for playing tricks and scaring him like this. And he blamed Forstrayer, for causing the fear that night in the first place.

"But you also know he wouldn't bring something to our attention if it wasn't important. so this goes for all of us, including Hyunjin; we need to trust in each other more. If our trust leads us down the wrong path than we fix it together, not throw each other down. Got it?" Chan explained, sighing before getting up from his seat.

"Now i'm going to bed. Seungmin make sure all doors are locked please and that the cameras are on. Good night guys." Chan said, leaving the now quiet group.

Felix, now calm and collected, his usual happy self, tapped on seungmins shoulder, gaining the boys attention.

"I'll get the doors and cameras done. You've already done a lot tonight, go rest up." He told him, giving him one of his normal warm smiles.

Seungmin returned the smile, accidentally letting a big yawn escape as well.

"Thanks, i owe you." He said before making his way to him own room.

While felix, went to the front and back door, making sure they were both locked, all 3 of the locks on each door. Then he made his way to the technology room. This room had a giant desk that in front of it had tvs monitors, mounted to the wall, showing the cameras view. Then on one side of the desk had a map of the town, the map littered with X's and other symbols.

While the other side of the desk had 3 computers, each having its own job. One held all the information and files, one was used for hacking and the one in between the two was where it all connected. Allowing you to pull information and websites from the two and into the middle one to make it work it all together. It looked confusing and messy, but to the members that normally worked under them, it was easy.

He looked at each monitor seeing that each camera was on and working. And for a second he swore he saw movement in one of them, but when looking at the screen he saw noting that couldn't made any movements. He pushed that thought aside and left the room, and like the others, headed to his own room to get some shut eye.

•<>•<>•<>•<>•<>•<>•<>•<>•<>•<

"I've got their location Sir." A voice spoke into his earpiece. He was hidden in a tree, being very cautious of the cameras he had spotted.

" _Good, now report back to base._ " Someone responded.

"But sir, i could easily attack! All lights are off and i'm not getting any motion from my motion sensor!" Then man retorted, desperate to get some of his own action.

" _I said return to base, are you deaf? If they were to wake up you'd be easily outnumbered. You'd be the knife in a gun fight. Don't be so irrational fool._ " His boss ordered.

The man rolled his eyes, obviously frustrated in his boss. So frustrated he mumbled;

"Jeesh. No wonder your son left you."

He hopped onto his motor bike, quickly driving away to their base. Parking said motorbike as soon as he reached his location, walking into the classy building. A building so classy it was camouflaged into the rest of the city.

He mounted the elevator, making his way to his bosses office to give him more information that was too confidential to say outside.

Finally getting to the 5th floor, he walked through the glass doors of his bosses office. Although he didn't get far when he was shot straight in the head, immediately falling to the ground.

"Never talk about my son."


	3. Solving Puzzles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just simply trying to start his day with an Iced Americano and a Muffin, Hyunjin runs into someone he hasn’t wanted to see for three years.

" _Never talk about my son._ "

The man stared at the now lifeless body on his office floor, Watching as the blood drained from his body and down into the small drain that was built into the floor. Which was in his office for these reasons exactly. He just watched as anything that would deem life left the mans body. And what's worse was he simply smiled at the dead man on the floor. He felt no remorse, none at all.

Nothing would be spared at the mention of his son like that.

One of the members, higher in command waked in, wanting to ask about there next mission. He saw the body and scoffed. This was nothing new, again, there was a built in drain there for a reason.

He walked around the body and sat in a chair in front of the mans desk, curiosity peeking through he asked; "What did he do?"

Not that he really cared for the, now dead, guy, he just wondered what he must have done to tic off their leader, their boss.

"Brat had the audacity to talk about my son. In his words i repeat; _Jeesh, No wonder your son left you._ " He scowled, staring directly at the body as he spoke. If that man wasn't dead, the looks given surely would have ended him instead.

Remembering he had one of his best spy's in front of his, he turned his glaze from the body to the boy sitting in the chair.

"Speaking of, Any news? Any possible locations? Anything?" At the talk of his son his face soften, eyes becoming full of worry, begging for good news.

The boy sighed, a bit scared to upset the leader, but continued anyway, "I'm afraid not. But do not worry, i won't stop, no, we won't stop till we find him for you."

This put a small smile on the leaders face, for a second, proud of the boy in front of him. Although it was short lived, anger quickly reappearing on his face again, "If it wasn't for those stupid boys." He growled.

The boys that chased his son, wanting to end his life. The street camera caught the scene, although the alley the boy was pulled into was too dark to tell who exactly pulled him in. As for the boys who started the whole mess, they died the night his son was reported missing. The leader had no mercy, again, when it came to his son.

"I know sir, i'm no father but i know it must be rough." The boy replied, giving as much sympathy to his leader to stay on his good side.

"Nothing i can't handle. I just want him safe," The man spoke, horrible images of all the conditions his son could be in appeared in his head.

"I never assumed you couldn't, your a strong man Hyung." The boy said, giving his leader a sincere smile. Before the leader could speak his mind, the boy spoke again, "Now, what's your next mission for us sir?"

The boss straightened himself out, immediately ready for business. "Tonight the _Woman Theif_ was killed."

"I though we didn't have any correlation with him? He did his own thing and we did ours." The boy spoke, waiting to hear the reasons as to why such man was part of their mission.

"We didn't, well, not much. Me and him shared important information, so i did see him as a small ally. Although he did go for random woman, sometimes he would find himself a member of a mafia. And so we would trade information; me giving him the locations with the best woman, him giving me mafia information." The boss continued, not even spinning in his office chair.

"Okay... So your point?"

"I sent some of our men to investigate his apartment before any police arrived. They gathered skin cells and blood samples from the members of SKZ. The house that boy," He paused, nodding his head to the body, "visited tonight. Now that we have a location, i want to move forward." He finished, giving his attention back to the alive boy in front of him.

Said boy didn't even know about a mission against SKZ. All he knew was that they did piss off his boss, they were pests. They seemed to be anywhere and everywhere, killing off their members and interrupting their missions.

"Which is?"

"I want to eliminate them. Well after we torture them and get all information from them. They been around for too long, getting in my way, and the death of my ally was the last straw." The boss seethed, slowly leaning back in his chair to calm his anger.

"Ah.. I see." The boy smirked, this meant he got to get his hands dirty.

"I see that smirk. Seeing as your excited and i know you won't let me down, you can lead this mission." The boss informed, seeing the smile grow even bigger.

"Well i'd be honored. What's your plan for this sir?" The little spy asked, now wickedly leaning forward in his chair.

"Impatient i see. For now, continue getting information on them, stalking their home and movements. Then we can start taking them, one by one." The boss explained, getting ready to dismiss his spy.

The boy, smile still plastered on his face, got up from the chair, making his way to the glass door exit.

"Inform me after everything."

"Yes sir."

>•<

It was now 10 am, the SKZ base still quiet. But this was normal. Some say they're 'going to bed' but in reality some stare at the small computer screen we call phones till 1-3am. But some do work, especially Chan, who always had his nose into his computer. Searching through old files, files he'd hacked into, anywhere to find helpful information.

It would at least be another hour or two till any real movement would occur in the base. Well at least, for everyone else.

There was Hyunjin, who even though he added to the quietness, he sat in his room, at his desk, doing his own research. After last night he got curious as to the reason they were followed. Now sure, it could just be because some mafia group wanted their hands on them, but something about the way they chose to follow the boys struck as odd in his head.

He knew Chan had brushed it off a little bit, because to Chan, it was a normal and expected occurrence. But not to Hyunjin. Surely the man could've attacked him in the elevator. They were alone, no cameras, and in the smallest space possible. It could've been an easy ambush, but instead nothing happened.

That's what throws him off the most. And he knew somehow it connected to Forstrayer, it's the only group that has the guts to actually do something so obvious and cocky.

And he was right.

He couldn't decide to be happy or worried when a file popped up on his screen, the picture for the person very memorable to last night. The same man that appeared in the elevator and at Panda Express. The same man that....

_Wait. What?_

Hyunjin was puzzled seeing the man pronounced as dead.

_He died last night? How?_

He searched further through the mans newly updated file, scrolling past the evidence showing he was a former member of Forstrayer, scrolling down to the mans own information paragraphs. Although he still skipped through, not caring for the mans family life, his hobbies or personality.

' _Shot through the head by The Boss._ '

Hyunjin shivered at the thought of Chan shooting one of them in the head. He was thankful to be on the good side of the mafia world. The good side where your own boss wouldn't kill you. Though chan was a leader and the leader type, not one who bossed everyone around while he sat and watched. No, he put himself in the fields as well, helping his teammates to the max.

_But who's the Boss? I didn't know Forstrayer had a boss. I knew that had multiple leaders so i thought that together the leaders led the group. Not a Boss._

Hyunjin frowned as he hacked further into Forstrayer's database, searching for and file named _the boss_. In which he did eventually find one, but it was literally labeled in bold **The Boss**. And clicking on it gave him no information that he wanted.

He groaned, both physically and mentally.

No name, no age, not even a family life. Just simple the boss, his talents, abilities, and that you should never piss him off. A lame excuse for a file.

Becoming frustrated in his act to research, he closed his laptop, stretching as he got up from his chair. And after receiving a big yawn, he decided he needed some coffee. So he walked over to his closet grabbing a oversized shirt with white and grey splotches scattered all over it, and some black skinny jeans. He wanted to be casual, but not dark casual.

He tucked the shirt in, brushed his hair slightly before putting a black beanie on, and slipped on his white converse high tops. Finishing it all off with a necklace that had a cross and a ring on it. Being satisfied with himself after looking in the mirror, he walked out and into the main room.

"Where ya going Jinnie?" Jeongin asked, seeing his Hyung walk in all dressed to go somewhere.

Hyunjin didn't even know that the younger was awake. But it wasn't a surprise, Jeongin was normally the first up, and as more of team would wake up, he would go wake up Hyunjin, who was normally the last to awake.

Hyunjin smiled in seeing the younger, he was casually eating cereal on the sofa while watching tv with the volume on low.

"I'm gonna go to the cafe a couple blocks down and get an Americano and maybe a muffin. You want anything Innie?" The older asked as he grabbed his copy of the base key, a black mask, and his wallet.

Jeongin shook his head, "No thanks hyung, i'm good with my lucky charms." He said, smiling towards his bowl.

Hyunjin nodded, sighing to himself knowing that the boy would be running off of the energy he would get from the sugary cereal. "Alright, i'll be back in a bit then okay? If anybody asks let them know where i am." He told the younger.

"Okie, will do Hyung." Jeongin replied, going back to munching on his cereal, heavily entranced by the show he was watching.

Hyunjin waved to the younger as he exited, the cool springs breeze hitting his face as soon as he stepped out. Thankfully it wasn't cold enough to the point where he would regret not having a jacket.

He walked down the sidewalk, as he normally did when he took this trip, eyeing his surroundings. Sure it was now day time and anyone that dared to make a move in broad daylight was stupid, but you never know.

It was a nice 15 minute walk to the cafe. He eye smiled to anyone that acknowledged his existence, even slightly bowing after each exchange. But nothing more than 'Good Mornings' or 'hello's' where spoken. It did make him feel normal though. Waking through the streets as if he wasn't part of some mafia that did all their work at night.

That he wasn't some killer, even if he was good, it wasn't necessarily normal. But then again, he excepted the non-normal life quiet a bit ago.

The smell of coffee and baked goods immediately entered his system upon entering the cafe. It was one of the better quality cafes too, one where you got your money's worth, and if you chose to stay, you had a nice place to enjoy.

"What can i get you today sir?" The worker asked giving Hyunjin a welcoming smile as he stepped up to the front.

"Just a Iced Americano and a Blueberry-lemon muffin please." Hyunjin ordered, getting his wallet out to pay. Although pulling out his SKZ card he frowned slightly seeing the other card that hadn't been used in 3 years.

His own debit card. The one he got from his father when he turned 16. And now it hadn't been used, money probably piling up in it. Chan told him he couldn't use it anymore, but he did allow him to keep it after he had broken the tracker in the card. He said if it was used they would know he was alive and then start their search all over again, but with more evidence that would probably lead them to finding him.

Which now after his group became so important to him, he wouldn't let anyone find him or them.

"Okay here ya go! Have a nice day!" The worker exclaimed happily, handing Hyunjin his order.

"Thank you, You too." Hyunjin replied, offering the man a thankful smile as he left the counter, heading towards his normal booth.

After sitting down he immediately dove into the muffin. It was one of his all time favorites, and it just so happens that this cafe made the best Blueberry-lemon muffins. With regular sugar and powdered sugar sprinkled on the top while the warm muffin was slightly cut open to allow butter to be seeped into it. It was delicious and made his mouth water.

Being the curious person he was, he couldn't help but slightly look up upon hearing the cafe bells go off, signaling someone had walked inside. Though, the three people that did walk inside did not fit the nice, calm theme the cafe had going. They were in all black, black boots, trench coats, black masks, you name it. But Hyunjin could hear them as they went to the counter.

Their voices and tone fitting perfectly with their outfits and cold demeanor. But Hyunjin worried when he recognized the main speaking voice. It was low, but not as low as Felix's. It sounded horse but not like he had been yelling or had overworked his voice to make it sound such way. How Hyunjin wished he had more than his mask to hide himself. He didn't think this day would ever come, to be honest, he didn't want it to.

He sat there, wanting to hide so badly, but all he could to was look down, pay attention to his food and never up at them. But his breath hitched when he saw them walk in his direction.

_Look down, look down, look down._

_Dont. Look. Up._

He watched from the corner of his eye as they cat in the booth next to his, allowing him to calm his breathing and relax to the point where he wasnt feeling like he was curling in a ball.

This was possibly the worst way to start his day in the history of his three years. What kind of luck do you have to see your Father at a cafe?! He wanted so badly to leave, but being that he was able to hear their conversations, he was intrigued.

"Are you okay sir?"

"Ah yes, i'm fine. It's just been a hot minute since i've been here. I used to come here with my son." He heard his father speak to whoever he had brought with him.

"Well speaking of which, we will find him sir."

"I know you will. I'm just running out of ideas. I feel like we've searched everywhere and i don't want to think about the possibility of him being dead."

Hyunjin just listened. It was weird hearing how his father felt about his disappearance. He hadn't seen his family in three years, never dared too, and hadn't really cared for how they felt.

"Is it possible that another mafia group may have him? Maybe Ateez? Or even Stray Kids. Both groups are constantly on our ass. Maybe they took him to upset and have a gain against you?"

This is where Hyunjin felt he has tuned in too much. But this information was important, seriously important. Because he was pretty sure that his fathers 'friends' had just exposed that they were part of something. Not only that, but he found it weird the way they addressed him; ' _Sir_.'

"I've thought of that. But i feel like we've seen both groups, i mean your mission right now has been to watch Stray kids. And we recently invaded one of Ateezs bases and didn't see anything." His father spoke, his voice taking a serious turn.

Hyunjin trembled in his seat. He had just figured out something he wished he didn't. Ateez was one of their small alliances, never really contacting each other unless it was seriously needed. That being said, they got a message saying that one of their extra bases was attacked. They lost some of their prisoners and a lot of supplies and asked if Stray Kids could help out and give them some supplies to which they would return the favor later.

But Hyunjin didn't miss who had attacked Ateezs base; Forstrayer. So if His father was part of Forstrayer, is it possible that the reason they talked to him so formally....

_No, Gods no._

No longer comfortable where he was he quickly but carefully got up, to avoid any suspicion. He did see his father look his way, making him want to crawl in a hole. But thankfully it had been three years, the boy had gotten taller, gained some muscle and his hair was longer and not to mention, Blonde.

So he threw away his trash and walked out, now eager to get to Chan. Chan; the one he knew he needed to tell this information to the most. But that also made him wonder if Chan knew and had never told him.

Knowing who his father truly was made everything fall into place. The richness but nameless big company, the warnings and rules when Hyunjin would go out, all because his father was the Boss of the most wanted and deadly group; Forstrayer. Holding all this information his head started to hurt, and he wanted so badly to run back to base.

But seeing as he just ate, that probably wasn't smart. But he did speed walk, which got him back to base in 10 minutes instead of 15.

He barged in, not caring who was around. Walking past Jeongin who still sat comfortably on the couch but now having Seungmin next to him. Walking past Felix, Minho and Jisung in the kitchen making a mess, and upstairs to Chan's office.

And again he slammed open the doors, now having stopped moving he realized he was out of breath. But he looked up, connecting his glaze with Chan, who sat worried at his desk.

"Did you go run a mile or something? Jeongin said you went for coffee yet here you are out of breath." Chan questioned, raising and eyebrow towards the boy.

"Did you know?" Hyunjin asked, not answering Chan. He wasn't mad, he could never be mad at Chan. He was just confused, and a tad bit scared if he was being honest. That's who his father really was? A cold hearted monster?

"Jinnie you have to be more specific, i can't read your mind." Chan retorted, slightly chuckling at the younger.

"My dad. Did you know who my dad was." Hyunjin replied, being specific as asked.

Chan's small smile faded, turning into a worried face with a mix of ashamed as he broke eye contact.

"Yes. I realized you didn't know that, considering you didn't know the guys who were chasing you. And if they knew you in the first place, they wouldn't have done that." He explained, hoping that Hyunjin wasn't mad.

"How did you find out?" Chan asked, looking up towards the younger who still stood in the doorway.

"I saw him. And i overhead some stuff." Hyunjin told him, hating himself for having to find out who his father really was.

"At the Cafe? You didn't engage anything with him right?" Chan asked, worry laced in his tone as he looked the boy up and down for any injuries.

"Ah no... I just listened in on his conversation." Hyunjin replied, now fidgeting with his hands to avoid the new awkward tension.

Chan's head perked up the slightest, his face now showing curiosity again, "And what did you hear?" He asked.

Hyunjin sighed, needing to sit, he sat down on the small couch on one side of the room. "That they are still looking for me."

He heard chan mumble a frustrated, " _Still_?" and heard him sigh aswell.

"But i also heard them say they had a mission right now, which was to watch us. I don't know how far they take their watching but that probably means they are trying to pull something." Hyunjin explained, watching Chan's eyebrows move in frustration.

"I see." Chan ruffled his own hair, obviously at loss with the situation.

"I don't really know what to say, or know what we should do." Chan told the younger, who sat watching Chan's moves, trying to read his emotions.

"Can't we just move bases?" Hyunjin asked, Leading to Chan shaking his head.

"It's not that easy if your being watched. Because sure, mafias are watched everyday, but when your mission is to specifically watch someone, there are going to be eyes everywhere. Their ears will be pressed against every wall, they will do whatever they can to follow you, hear your conversations, anything. Us deciding to move wouldn't go unnoticed." Chan explained.

The room went silent for a couple minutes while Chan thought to himself. He would fidget with his ring while staring at random objects in the room. And the best he could think of was to keep your eyes open and don't ever go out alone. Chan didn't know much else that could be done, he didn't know what was possible that wouldn't be found out.

"Well thank you for informing me about this Hyunjin. I'll call a meeting later, but do tell the others to not go out today." Chan said, bringing Hyunjins attention back towards the elder.

"Oh—uh yeah. Will do." Hyunjin mumbled a reply before getting up from the small leather couch and making his way to the exit.

"Oh and Hyunjin." He heard Chan quickly say behind him. He turned towards his Hyung who had a apologetic face on.

"I'm sorry for not telling you who your dad really was. He's your family after all and i really shouldn't have kept it to myself." Chan apologized, staring at the boy in hopes there was no anger in him.

Hyunjin smiled softly, "It's okay Hyung, I understand. You've done so much for me i couldn't be mad, besides you have your reasons, which i know have good intentions." He told him before nodding a goodbye and swiftly leaving the office.

He walked out and headed to his room, which was down the hallway and to the left, being the only room in that part of the hallway. He wanted to slam the door, but he knew in doing so people would know he was unhappy, thus leading them to be all in his business.

But he did storm into his room, just calmly closed the door. The anger was now setting in, and he was pissed; specifically at his father. The one who lied to him, the one who kept a big ass secret for the most of Hyunjins life! And to make it worse, the secret his father had been keeping turned out to be the fact that his dad was a cold blooded murderer.

One who killed for fun and simple mistakes. Who killed and hurt people for money and anything he wanted. It was different to Hyunjins case, So he didn't care about the fact that he was somewhat a pot calling a kettle black. Because he knew the differences. They were there in plain sight.

He stared at the photo of him and his dad on his nightstand. The more he stared at it, the more his anger bubbled. That was no father standing next to him in that picture, no, it was a stranger, a killer, a scumbag. He stomped over to it, picking it up and speeding over to his window.

He slid open the window allowing him to see the view of the forest that was in front of his room. Looking down at the picture he scoffed, chucking the picture out with ease. It didn't hurt, the only feelings he felt towards that picture was shame; shamed of himself for being so blind and being related to the man.

He walked over to another one that was hanging on the wall, doing the same with it as the previous one. But he stopped at one with his mother and him in it. He didn't know her side. Did she know? Did she help him? Was she part of anything at all?

He didn't know, and unlike the other pictures, staring at this picture brought sadness, and a tinge of missing his mother. The pure smile she wore in that picture tore at Hyunjins heart. She looked too innocent, and when he was around her, she was.

He suddenly smiled at the picture, recalling all the good memories he and his mother shared because they were always alone. His father always being at work, which he now knew what work was.

He backed away from the picture, not having the heart to throw it out. But that didn't stop him from throwing out anything that was related to his father.

"Jin, What are you doing?" Changbin asked, coming into the youngers room after hearing all the movement.

Hyunjin slightly jumped at the sudden visitor, cursing himself for forgetting to lock the door.

"Just doing some re-decorating." He replied, nervously chuckling.

In hearing Hyunjin say that, changbin looked around the room, taking in the small changes. The walls were more blank except for one picture frame. Changbin sighed upon realizing the changes, but chose to say nothing seeing as the boy was already in a mess of a state.

"Nice, i like it." He was being honest. He enjoyed being able to come into Hyunjins room and not stare at the pictures of his enemies Boss seeming like a normal person while standing next to Hyunjin. It just screamed Fake.

"But I was coming in to ask you if you wanted to train with me? Everyone else is being a lazy ass today." Changbin grumbled, remembering all the lazy rejections he got less than 10 minutes ago.

"Sure Hyung, i kinda just feel like i need to hit something anyway." Hyunjin replied, casually closing his window.

Changbin didn't question it, knowing exactly why he need to blow off some steam.

"Alright, i'll meet u down there in 10?"

"Okie." Hyunjin responded seeing the older walk out after that. He looked back out his window, smirking at the broken mess that was scattered in some bushes and trees. Broken and destroyed, just how it should be.

After changing into some more comfortable pants to train in, he met Changbin in the training room where said boy was already pulling out equipment.

Hyunjin walked over to a shelf and grabbed some gloves before walking over to a punching bag. And he didn't hesitate to sock the punching bag right in the center, some dust flying off.

"You weren't kidding when you said you needed to hit something. What did the punching bag do to you?" Changbin joked, eyeing the youngers next move.

In which this time Hyunjin brought his left leg around and kicked the bag with a grunt, sending more dust off it.

Changbin knew the answer at this point, but just wanted to understand the boys feelings, help him in anyway, "Alright spill. What's got your thoughts in a bind?"

Hyunjin grunted again upon sending a couple more rapid punches to the bag. He had heard Changbins question, but did he really want to answer?

"Jin, talking helps take the steam away. Going silent and pending up your emotions won't help." Hyunjin heard Changbin tell him.

But he was stubborn. He just wanted to think to himself, think that the world was against him. He didn't want to end up weak because he would break down for letting his emotions out.

"Fine, come at me. We can practice while you talk." Changbin retorted, hands in his hips as he waited for a response.

Hyunjin turned around to face the shorter after hearing this. "What if i hurt you?"

"Well what if i hurt you Jin? Hmm? Don't go easy because we are talking. Don't think i won't doing my best just because i'm being your therapist right now." Changbin explained, eyes becoming serious.

Hyunjin mumbled an 'okay' after taking off his gloves and walking over to his Hyung, both of them getting in a fighting stance. They both stood for a minute before Changbin made the first move. He quickly stepped towards Hyunjin, a took a swing with his right arm towards the boys face.

Mid swing he grunted a "Talk."

He was caught off guard for a second but Hyunjin was still able to dodge before moving to the side a bit and taking a kick to Changbins unsteady leg.

"My dad—he's the boss of—Forstrayer." Hyunjin said in between grunts. His kick hit Changbins leg, causing the boy to lose his balance a bit. Regaining his balance he quickly did a round kick, hitting right into Hyunjins side.

"Okay-and what about—it?" Changbin asked, taking a couple steps back from Hyunjin to allow him to regain himself. Now a tad bit angry from the blow, Hyunjin sent his fist into Changbins stomach, said boy grabbing Hyunjins fist and pinning it behind his back.

"H-He's—A liar! He's—A cold blooded-Killer!" Hyunjin sent out in pained gasps. Groaning he sent his foot backwards, hitting Changbin in the area; earning a quick groan.

"That—was a low—blow." He told Hyunjin, chuckling away the pain. But he quickly shoved it off a rushed towards Hyunjin, eyeing any spot that seemed easy to hit.

Changbin shoved Hyunjin in his un-shielded shoulder, Hyunjin stumbling before going to Changbins legs again, going low for the kick and kicking changbins legs out from under him. The boy landing with a thud.

But he got back up, lunging for Hyunjin and both boys now on the floor, Hyunjins neck pinned down by Changbins arm.

"Are you gonna let him define who you are? Are you going to let his stupidity get in your way?" Changbin sternly said, staring down the boy under his grasp.

Hyunjin brought his knee up, knocking the older off him. With the older still on the ground, Hyunjin rushed over, this time he was pinning Changbin down; Changbins face now met with the floor as Hyunjin pinned his arms behind him.

Side eyeing Hyunjin as much as he could, Changbin choke out some words, "He's not you and he can't control you. Don't get so riled up by someone else's mistakes."

Hyunjin huffed before letting Changbin go, who immediately grabbed his arm and started messaging it. "You can't control him either. He chose to be what he is, you can't take any fault in that." Changbin stated, watching the sweaty boy in front of him guzzle a water.

Changbin stood up, noticing the silence from the younger. Walking over to Hyunjin he calmly put a hand on his shoulder, "Because if i'm being honest, he's not your dad, and hasn't been for three years. It's not worth being upset about." Changbin told the younger.

Hyunjin didn't question how Changbin seemed to know about his situation. Maybe Chan had told him, but then he came to realize that Changbin was there too that night. He was there when Hyunjin told him his full name, so he was there and was able to make the connection. The connection of who Hyunjins father was, and like Chan, kept his mouth shut.

_So that's why he liked my re-decorating. My father was no longer part of my decorations._

He sighed, seeing Changbin staring at him wait for his response, "Okay Binnie."

Changbin smiled, feeling accomplished to finally get a honest and happy answer from Hyunjin. He patted Hyunjin on the back making the younger shoot him death glares. He laughed before making his way towards the door.

"Now go wash up you hot mess. Because Chan doesn't want us going anywhere, we are doing a movie night tonight. So dress comfy." Changbin informed in which Hyunjin just nodded in response. Both walked out of the training room, one feeing accomplished and one feeing a lot better after the days events, and both smiling.

>•<

Inside the house was peaceful. A random movie now playing after the couple the boys had watched had finished. As for the boys, well they were all passed out. It was around 2:30 Am and slowly, one by one, the boys had fallen asleep. Some laid out of the floor, some on the couch, never the less all their limbs were tangled with each other, blankets over their bodies. There were some snores, but all were mainly quiet.

With the blankets and pillows strewn everywhere, there was a couple pizza boxes, empty or filled, sitting on table in front of the tv. Popcorn bowls sat at the base of the couch from where they were eaten and sat down out of the way. Empty cups that were once full of lemonade, sprite or Coke were also scattered around the room.

It was peaceful, might not have been the prettiest sight, but it was a normal sight for a boys night.

As for the outside of the house, well i wouldn't say it wasn't normal or peaceful, it just had some things that didn't belong in a peaceful environment.

For example; The man, a member of Forstrayer, staring at the pile of belongings on the ground on the backside of the house. He stared at them, going through some of them as his eyebrows furrowed. They didn't make sense to him, all he knew was that some of the pictures had his boss in them, and a boy he was pretty sure he recognized.

So scooping up at the objects he could, not bothering to grab any broken glass from pictures, he shoved them into his backpack.

This was definitely something his boss would want to see.


	4. Break In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjins solo mission seems to go well....for the most part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to quickly add that i have an Etsy! I sell some kpop stuff on there if you want to check it out. (Etsy: BlossomNCrafts)
> 
> ALSO! Do you guys know where i got Forstrayer from?

The sun had been up in the sky for about 4 hours now, drying the mildew that had grown itself on everything throughout the night. Some birds were chirping, but most that woke up early just to annoy the light sleepers were now gone, carrying throughout the rest of their day. But it wasn't too late that the town was already buzzing. The 'early birds' already groaning their way to work, leaving the streets a bit dry with no one was rushing to get anywhere.

You want a good example of not being rushed? Well, It was now 11:48 am and Chan was the first to wake out of the eight. He had felt like he was suffocating, weighted down, so he opened his eyes to find the dog pile he was part of. Smiling at the sight in front of him, he decided he needed to somehow get up and make the kids breakfast. So after carefully moving the stray limbs that where scattered everywhere, he got up and made his way to the kitchen.

Deciding to go simple, he just made some eggs, bacon and toast, which took him about 15-20 minutes to do and there was no sign of the others waking up on their own. Chan chuckled and made his way over to the sleeping dog pile, shaking as many awake as possible.

"Ugh, Seungmin i can't. Wake him please?" Chan struggled, begging Seungmin to wake Hyunjin because somehow only Jeongin or Seungmin could do so.

Still half asleep, Seungmin mumbled an 'okay' before moving over to Hyunjin to wake him up. Which for Seungmin to wake him up included, pokes, tickles, shakes, shouts in the ear, and more aggressive shaking.

"I'm up, i'm up." Hyunjin groaned, swatting away Seungmins hands that dared to poke and tickle him again.

"Hyung made breakfast." Seungmin told Hyunjin, trying to wake the boy even more, which it did because his eyes lit up as he tried to race to the kitchen.

Once all boys were seated at the table, Chan took the opportunity to talk. Seeing as all the boys were pretty calm, some still tired and quiet. "We've got a new mission i'd like to discuss." He spoke quietly seeing as he didn't need to yell.

"Okay, what's it about?" Minho asked between taking a big bite of his toast.

"I know we are now trying to stay low but, The 3rd eye has recently been selling huge amounts of cocaine. And normally we wouldn't get into that, but they've jacked with the product. They've added a powered form of poison into the cocaine mix. This poison turns some of your blood into a thick consistency, thus it will clog areas in our body. That will lead to restriction of blood cells and blood flow to the heart, causing you to become seriously ill." Chan explained, while casually eating his eggs.

Once he finished chewing the bite, he continued, "So tonight there's going to be a big trade between the 3rd eye and some popular drug dealer. We are going to intercept this trade." He paused, this time his strong face faltered a bit, his eyes traveling over to Hyunjin who wasn't even looking up from his food.

"But here's the risky part; The 3rd eye doesn't really know Hyunjin. They know our faces but haven't really seen Hyunjin enough to recognize his or his voice." He stopped again seeing as Hyunjin was was now looking up at him, puzzled.

"That being said, i want him to be the one who acts as the drug dealers pickup man. The rest of us will be on stand by." Chan started again, watching the members faces who besides Hyunjin's, remained unchanged.

"Where is this exchange happening Hyung?" Jeongin asked realizing that detail was not given.

"At a bar, C'est La Vie to be exact." Chan told them. C'est La Vie was one of the most popular bars and normally on a weekend night it was crowded and little exchanges were something that would easily go unnoticed.

"How much are they asking for?" Jisung asked this time, he wasn't very fond of the idea of them paying knowing damn well that money could be spent on other things; like cheesecake.

"3 Million."

Jisung calmed down. Out of the 55 Million they had this wasn't too bad, and he now realized why Chan was so easy to go on with this mission. "Oh okay..." He responded, shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.

Chan chuckled, "Don't worry, your cheesecake money is safe." he told Jisung noting the boys obsession with Cheesecake, literally, there was never not cheesecake in the base.

"Hyung are you okay with this?" Jeongin asked, turning to Hyunjin who was back to seeming unfazed.

Hearing Jeongin call to him, he looked up, putting on a small smile, "Yeah actually, i could use some more real world practice. Instead of made up situations in the training room." He responded, mumbling the last sentence.

Seeing as his hyung was okay with the plan, Jeongin felt better. He was okay with it Hyunjin was.

"And last thing, this exchange will be happening at 8:30 tonight, so i expect us all to be ready by 7:45." Chan exclaimed before quietly excusing himself after he finished his breakfast.

After the serious tension was removed, Felix broke the silence, "Jin are you excited?! This is like—your first solo mission!" Felix bounced, clearly excited for Hyunjin.

Hyunjin couldn't help but laugh at his chaotic teammate, "In fact i am Lix, you aren't jealous are you?" Hyunjin smirked, seeing the boys bouncing stopped and a playful smirk rose onto Felix's face as well.

"Of course not, because i've already had a solo mission. Your physically tall, but don't think your high and mighty mister." Felix joked, his playful grin never fading.

"Well i guess i'll take being physically tall, shorty." Hyunjin retorted, earning and eye roll from the 'shorty.'

"Yeah, Yeah, Whatever." Felix mumbled, trying to put up an act as if he were upset.

Hyunjin chuckled, not falling for the act, (it was a daily act in the household), ruffling the boys hair after he had gotten up from the table. He didn't fully let out his excitement till he got into his room. After closing the door he couldn't help but do a happy dance along with a small squeal. He seemed like some kind of fan girl.

After his excitement session, he plopped down at his desk, which was quiet messy. It looked like a mix of two different lives; Important files and small weapons he had made mixed with books and sketchbooks with messy looking art on each page. He will admit, he had a messy looking art style, but it looked cool. After straightening up his desk, he got on his computer, gagging as the home screen surprised him.

_Shit, forgot to change that...._

Quickly changing the background to some dark, aesthetically pleasing flowers, he got up and walked over to the window. Was he regretting chucking anything related to his father out? No. That was for sure. But he couldn't help but want to see the life he used to have again.

Looked out the window he became puzzled. _I did throw those things out this window right? Maybe animals moved it? Maybe someone homeless took what they could salvage to sell?_ He was coming up with as many thoughts as to why the items were gone.

_Wait. Why do i care again?_ He chuckled, scoffing as he walked away from the window. That's right, he didn't care, why was he bothering to wonder where they went. He honestly felt bad for whoever, or whatever took them.

Boredom kicking in, he collapsed onto his bed, pulling his phone out to get on instagram. He sadly couldn't have a 'real' account, so instead he had an account named _Hwang Hudson_. But instead of pictures showing off his youth, his account was empty, nothing but a blank page saying 'No posts yet.'

He hadn't realized that things like this upset him. His life thrown away in an instant, not even allowing him to live through his age at huge parties where everyone was drunk, vacations with friends where every minute was spent with a smile. But then again, he wouldn't say he had thrown away his life. Sure, it all changed in a matter on an hour, but could you really say, seeing as the people he was around, that he had lost it all?

He used to think that. He would be laying in bed as the few memories of his family all together flashed in his mind. He would want to cry, even if moments like these were rare. But now he can't say that it brings him any sadness. No tears decide to brim his eyes, his lips don't quiver, he doesn't mope. Instead now it's replaced with a scoff, a scoff screaming 'You fake, lying bastards.'

Now thinking of it, he wondered if he was still in that house, would his father succumb to the mafia life so much that he'd kill his own son? If so much money was on the line, would that money be more than Hyunjin? Would that money be his downfall? No, Would his father be his downfall?

Surely, even if his father didn't even know it, he was Hyunjins downfall. His truth made Hyunjin cry, question his life and purpose, and kick Changbin in the area out of anger, which he was starting to feel sorry for as much as he did feel the shorter needed it.

But then again, he was over it. That man meant nothing to him anymore, his emotions towards him dissipating, flying away to someone else who may give a fuck. Now he was just thankful to be in the hands he was in now. Often thinking if he could turn back time, well he knew that answers, he wouldn't.

Not in the middle to do anything knowing he had a mission tonight, he hung out in his room all day, constantly reorganizing things and moving things to where he liked. So when 7:00 pm came, his room had stopped on its finale change, and to add on to that it was spotless.

_Chan said 7:45, right?_

That's what he guessed, only remembering that the mission time was around 8:30, but they had to be their earlier in case things happened earlier.

Deciding not to be too fancy, he put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of Combat boots to match the black. Then he slipped on a silk button up shirt that had a mix of blues all over it. Recently he started to prefer silk shirts on missions like these, they were easy to breath and move in if things got messy. Overall though, even in the simplest of environments, he would get hot easily, so wearing the silk shirts definitely helped.

He tucked the front in and left the back to hang loosely, looking in the mirror again to decide if this outfit was a go. Deciding that it was, he then grabbed a hair tie and did his hair hall up half down, except the up part was a bit lower than normal. And instead of leaving the top half in a ponytail, he did a small bun.

His final touches were just simple pieces of jewelry and the littlest amount of makeup after the boys had repeatedly told him he didn't really need any.

Walking out of his room a small glint caught his eye. _Ah, it might be wise to take that._ He scurried over and grabbed the small blade and it's sheath. It was a simple Black titanium blade but the handle was carved into Small flowers with tiny blue topaz stones in the center of larger ones. Thin vines with small leaves wrapped around until it hit the blade. His initials were also carved at the bottom of the hilt, it was a birthday gift from Chan, and also and official welcome gift.

When Chan had given it to him they were the only two still awake. Chan had told him it was more of a serious present that he knew he'd get made fun of for it the others were around.

_Chan pulled out a small black box, topped off with a light blue bow. "I totally get bashed if i gave this to you earlier." He joked, handing Hyunjin the small box. He eye it down suspiciously hoping Chan didn't spend too much money on him._

_Pulling the ribbon and watching it come undone, Hyunjins nerves rose. He didn't know why, it was just a birthday present, but he was now closer to seeing what was inside the box. Lifting the lid he watched as the light caught the blade, making it shimmer. Though once the light glazed the Topaz gems, his attention was drawn to the hilt of the small blade._

_"You've mentioned for a while now that you like flowers. And it's not like there's a point in saying that i haven't seen your dark aesthetic wallpaper on your phone." Chan told him, noticing Hyunjins attention having gone to the handles design._

_Hyunjin was speechless. It was the most beautiful gift he had ever been given. He didn't even want to think about the price knowing it would unsettle his mood. "It's beautiful Hyung. Thank you." Hyunjin thanked, meeting Chan's soft gaze._

_Chan smiled seeing his gift was successes in bringing Hyunjin happiness. "With your skills getting better and better, and your ability to join missions getting closer, i figured you could use a small blade to protect you when you needed it. And also," Chan shifted his weight to his other leg to distract him from getting too emotional._

_"Your one of us, And although we aren't a gang of 40 men, we are strong and will do anything to protect one another. So, this blade, although tiny, will protect you. All of our hands are on that blade, helping to protect you." Chan paused seeing Hyunjins face go to a confused state as to where he was going with that last sentence._

_Chan laughed, "No Hyunjin, Literally. We each carved one of those flowers." He told Hyunjin, pointing down to the decently done flowers in the handle. Hyunjins eyes widened as he carefully pulled the blade to his chest._

_"I love it even more now." Hyunjin spoke, looking at the small blade with admiration._

_Chan grinned, placing a hand on the boys shoulder, "I'm glad. Happy Birthday Hyunjin."_

_Both bidding goodnight while Hyunjin walked away, getting all giddy just at the sight of the badass blade he was just given. Merely as a birthday present._

He hooked the sheath to the backside of his pants, hidden under the loose part of his shirt. Then taking one more glance of the blade before tucking it away in its sheath.

He rushed his way down stairs in hopes he wasn't the last to be ready, because in a short, he almost always was. Entering the living space with a huff, he grinned, "Looks like i'm not last this time~" He joked, eyeing the missing Minho.

Jisung rolled his eyes, "He isn't even the one doing any action! How has he taken longer than you to get ready." To this, Hyunjin shrugged his shoulders, not having the slightest clue either.

"Sorry _Sung_ , Just cause we are on standby doesn't mean i don't have to look good." Minho said, strolling down the stairs with his eyes fixated on Jisung as if they could kill him.

"Who said you looked good at all." Jisung mumbled, and not a second later Minho had pounced on him, tickling him till he was his laughter had become gasps and begs to stop.

"Alright, seeing as everyone is finally ready, let's head out." Chan said, over exaggerating the finally.

All 8 files out and into the Van, which looked like a normal car on the outside, but the setup inside was way different. Seats lined the perimeter with a small table in the back. While the front consisted on the driving wheel and many computers that Seungmin would use to monitor missions.

By 8:15 they were pulling behind C'est La Vie, allowing their Van to be hidden in the shadows. "We are here a bit early, but still be on the lookout. And Hyunjin, Stick around the bar, the description of the guy you'll be looking for was just shady. So keep a look out for that." Chan explained, getting silent nods from the rest of the 7.

They each had put on their earpiece before splitting up as they headed inside. For 8:20 it's was crowded, booths already crowded with loud men. As Hyunjin made his way to the bar he had already seen things that made him uncomfortable. Couples already drunk to the point where their make outs were sloppy, men hungrily staring at woman who had turned a blind eye, or the loud tables that had men shouting, beer sloshing and spilling, as they talked about things they probably shouldn't in public.

Finally making it to the bar, Hyunjin sat down on one of the stools, a bar tender already making his way towards him. "What can i get you tonight sir?" He asked, eyeing Hyunjin as he seemed too young.

But the eyeing and mistrust quickly faded, "I'll just get a water please." Hyunjin told him, offering a small, noticeably uncomfortable, smile. The man nodded, quickly scurrying away.

He decided he was getting to distracted by such place and needed to continue his mission. Like a child, he spun around in his chair, glancing the other people that sat at the bar.

Bingo.

A Man, probably a little bit older than Hyunjin, sat at the end of the bar. He was dressed in black from head to toe, a hood over his head and a black mask over the bottom half of his face. He practically screamed Shady.

Completely forgetting about the drink he ordered, he made his way to the stool next to the shady 3rd eye member. Hyunjin sat down, slightly side eyeing the man next to him. "You wouldn't sit next to someone this shady unless you needed something." The man paused, turning his face up to look at Hyunjin. "Am i right?"

Now turning his full attention to the man, "Yup, now where are we doing this? I know damn well you not dumb enough to have such trade in the open." Hyunjin spat, acting as tough as possible.

The man grinned, "You seem young but you know what your doing. Follow me." He led Hyunjin through the chaos that the Bar had already become and outside to a low key car. The man pulling out his car keys as he hit a button that made the cars lights go off and unlock. Out of the trunk, he pulled out two black suitcases, turning towards Hyunjin to finish the trade.

"Now pay up kid." He grunted, pulling the suitcases to himself until Hyunjin showed the cash. Hyunjin scoffed at the man, what a drag.

Nevertheless, he rolled his eyes as he pulled the envelope out of his pocket, handing it to the man. "This is 3 Million right? Best not be trying to scam me off." The man growled, stare going back and forth from Hyunjin to the cash.

Hyunjin sighed, already tired of this mission, "I mean if you want to pull it out right here right now to count. Or you could just take my word, because sure i'm young, but i'm no idiot to the mafia system."

The man silently stared at him before nodding, handing Hyunjin the two cases, which he opened immediately. Each case had to have at least 200 packs of the cocaine, making the cases slightly heavy.

Seeing as the trade was done, the man slightly bowed, grinning because he knew the cocaine was poisoned, "Nice doing business with ya kid."

Hyunjin smirked back, knowing full on well how dangerous the cocaine really was, "You too."

And both bud there ways, the man hopping into his car, while Hyunjin made his way to the Van. Taking out his copy of the keys, he unlocked the car and placed both cases inside. Then locked the Van back up and headed back into the Bar to fight the rest of his team.

He nice back inside, the reek of alcohol instantly flowed into his system, his nose scrunching up at the smell.

Walking past a basically vacant booth, a hand suddenly reached out to his, pulling him into the booth. "Whatcha doing here _Hwang_."

He turned to the unknown that got him into the mess. Although he already had an idea based on the _female_ voice.

"Wouldn't have taken you for a baddie, but i guess i can retract that statement seeing as you disappeared for 3 years."

_Hwang Yeji_. A cousin from his dads side of the family. His dad had a brother and then that brother got married and decided to make this witch of a Hwang. But seeing her instantly spoke bad news in his brain.

"Hello _Yeji_. Maybe i should be asking you what you are doing here?" He spat in return, earring a smack to the back of his head.

"Idiot i'm the same age as you, don't act all old and like i'm not allowed to be here. Now i'll ask in simpler terms that maybe will rack in your brain; Where have you been?" Yeji growled, hand still grasping onto Hyunjins so he couldn't leave.

"Places." Another smack to the head, "Would you stop that?!"

She laughed, but the seriousness returned rather quickly, "Then answer my questions without being a smart ass."

He ripped his hand from hers, "I don't have to answer anything! I have my own life that i can do as i please! You can't walk up in here acting like you own me." He seethed, standing up from the booth.

"Someone seems very secretive~" She purred in a taunting manor.

"It's none of your fucking business. Now leave me alone. I don't see why my family should intervene now after 3 years." He griped, walking away before she could contemplate what he'd said.

"Tch. Brat." She mumbled to herself, grabbing her water and taking a sip, letting the cool liquid slide down her throat. But something had quickly drawn her attention from her drink .

"Hmmm~ What's this? Sneaky Hwang." She spoke softly after seeing her cousin come in contact with a man she quickly recognized. And then soon more guys appeared around her cousin, again none of them non familiar.

"I wonder if it's you that i lost my trade to hmmm..." She wondered. It wasn't that hard to spot the missing Shady man when it was already 8:40, 10 minutes past the original time in plan. He even texted her from an unknown number saying _'Thanks again, enjoy your coke.'_

But the three million was still in her purse and she was empty handed. Her boss wouldn't be happy about this.

"I never would've thought that's where you have been for the past 3 years Hyun." She again spoke to herself, worrying slightly that her cousin had no idea what he was now part of.

Yeji shook her head, already ashamed that her love and emotions took over her job. "Your lucky i love you Jin. So for now, your secret is safe with me." She mumbled, watching her cousin and the rest of Stray kids walk out of the bar, chatting happily at, she guessed, their successful mission.

>•<

"Damn that's a lot of cocaine...." Minho sighed upon opening one of the cases. He knew the other case would be just like the one he open, full of poisoned cocaine that was now in safe hands.

"Let's keep them both closed until we find a place to dispose of them. I don't want any of it escaping and poisoning you guys." Chan spoke softly as he handled the driving wheel, mumbling a quiet curse when a driver cut him off.

"You did good for your first solo mission Jinnie!" Felix exclaimed, proudly pulling Hyunjin into a side hug.

"You think?" Hyunjin asked, thoughts running wild with his unwanted encounter with his cousin. She really didn't seem like the type of person you'd see at a bar.

"Yeah! You seemed to handle it all really well. Better than i think i did my first solo mission." Felix praised, grumbling the last part to himself.

Hyunjin chuckled, ruffling the boys hair, earning a death stare, which just made him laugh more. He always found it funny when Felix would try and be intimidating. Because sure he could be at times, but then memories of the happy, energized boy would pop in Hyunjin's head and any fear would vanish.

The van went quiet for the rest of the ride home, although most of them did nothing but keep watch until the Cocaine was safely in the van, they were tired. It had seemed that just the smell of alcohol had lulled them all into a hangover state. Some having slight headaches from not only the smell, but the yelling and loud music.

They all piled out of the Van once they had safely pulled up to their base, each keeping a look out as they walked inside. It was dark out, you never knew what was silently trailing behind.

Chan grouped them all together before they escape to their bedrooms and fall into a speechless slumber. "Good job tonight guys, i mean it. So now, until i hear further, you guys can rest and have a couple days to yourself. Although he ready at any time, you never know when we will get a mission." Chan told them, even his tiredness making an appearance.

"Now good night guys, sleep well." He spoke softly, waving them off to their own rooms. Most not even sparing a glance as the trudged up to their room. Some barely made it out of their evening clothes and into sleep ware before crashing onto their comfortable beds.

And just like everyone else, Hyunjin had crashed onto his. But again thoughts of seeing his cousin invaded his mind. He couldn't help but worry that she would tell his father of their meeting. He could only hope she had no proof, and if she did tell, Hyunjins father would call her crazy. Seeing Hyunjin? At a bar?

He would have claimed her to be drunk. Or at least, that's what Hyunjin hoped.

He allowed himself to finally succumb to his heavy eyelids, allowing them to fully close, drifting him off into dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I feel like there’s already so much support for this story, and i’m so thankful <3


	5. Hidden Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone breaks into Hyunjins room, finding secrets that weren’t meant to be spilled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Any names used are just for names, no group members are associated with these names in this book.*

" _What is all this?_ " The man scowled, looking down at all the random junk his supposed best spy just dropped on his desk.

"Just some things i found outside of stray kids base that i thought you'd like to see. Take a look." His spy informed him, ushering him to look at the 'junk.'

The man gave a questioning look before deciding to take a look. Surely his spy wouldn't bring his trash for no reason. It must have some importance to him. He flipped over what he presumed to be a picture frame, eyes meeting with his own as soon as he did. He stared at the photo, a picture of him as his son.

"What is the meaning of this?" He questioned, gaze meeting back up with his spy.

"I don't bring you things without reason sir. These have given me reason to believe that either Stray kids have your son, or they are taking extreme measures to look into him." His spy informed, the cockiness radiating off him.

The man continued to look the rough the items, More photos of him and his son, Pens, Notebooks, and even a pocket watch. He was a bit confused until a bell went off in his head. These weren't just photos of him and his son, these were items his son _owned_. They were things he had given his son, _physically_.

He even felt a tinge of sadness knowing that these things he had given his son were now damaged, to far to be fixed. How _dare_ they. He could only hope wherever his son was, he wasn't in the same condition.

"I want you to continue looking into this. I want more eyes on them, and don't even think about rest until you have the ability to bring something else important." The man growled, eyes never leaving the pile of old belongings.

His spy smirked, and slightly bowed, "Yes sir." And then proceeded to walk out of the office where the rest of his small team waited. They definitely hadn't been eves-dropping, some a bit disappointed that they wouldn't be getting much rest till further notice.

Without any words he waved at them to follow him. "So what's the plan?" One asked, quickening his pace to catch up.

"Well," He paused to look out a window, the black of night being all he could see, "We go out now. It's late and we can do a bit of sneaking around."

His teammate nodded, falling behind again to talk to the others, while he, _Jiwoo_ , thought to himself. He was happy his boss was finally allowing him to be more hands and involved in a mission. And this also meant he could do some things without permission because all his boss said was to watch them, never did he give any specific orders for that.

So his current plan? _Break into the window where the belongs were found outside of._ While the rest of his crew either kept watch or explored around.

Thinking of his own plan excited him even more. He got goosebumps just thinking of how good of a spy he is to even have the confidence to break in. He was cocky, no doubt. He knew this, and it only built him up more. He would think of how other members of Forstrayer would be jealous of how much power he had.

That he could have a casual conversation with the boss without fearing the drain would be soaking up his blood by the end of the night. He only felt more powerful at the thought of how he infuriated other members.

He led his crew to a small car that fit them all, immediately driving them to the location he'd been watching for a couple of days now.

"I want some of you to keep lookout and some of you to explore around to see if you find anything." He explained, catching some of their gazes it the rear view mirror.

"What will you be doing Jiwoo?" One asked, shifting as he messed with his seatbelt.

"Breaking in." Jiwoo replied, his eyes traveling back to the road as he smirked.

"Just don't get caught." Another one spoke as they stared out the window.

Jiwoo scoffed. He adored that his teammate cared for him but really?

"Do i ever get caught?" he remarked, turning the blinker on as he started his turn onto the street that led them to their location.

"Ah your right, don't know why i bothered to care." His teammate responded, sarcasm laced in his tone.

The rest of the ride was silent till they arrived to the Stray kids base, Jiwoo parking a bit further down to avoid suspicion.

"You know your jobs." Jiwoo told them as they all got out of the car, stealth mode immediately on. He got silent nods as they scattered around the house. While Jiwoo knew exactly where he was going.

He pulled out his grappling hook when he came to the familiar window. After throwing it up, he pulled into down a bit to make sure it was jammed into the roof. Then he started to quietly scale the side of the base till he reached the window.

He stayed to the side and carefully peeking inside; Pitch black. He then started working on the window. _Idiots_ , he thought to himself as the window simply slid open, no latches or locks to be picked.

He carefully slid into the room, eye adjusting to the darkness of the room. Once it did, he took note of the bed, the bed with a lump and scattered pillows and blankets on it. Deciding to look into the lump later, he continued to explore the room.

The room had only a couple photos on the wall, some having a woman he didn't recognize and a boy that he did. A boy that he recognized to be no one else but _Hwang Hyunjin, Hwang Changho's son._

Jiwoo continued to smirk to himself, puzzle pieces slowly coming together that only built his cockiness.

He trailed over to the desk in the corner, quietly turning on the computer as curious took over his body. The computer flashed on, showing open tabs scattered about.

_What's this?_

He eyeballed one tab that looked awfully familiar. _Forstrayers Database._ He looked over to the lump on the bed, and then back to the computer. _What a smart boy, doesn't trail far from the nest i see._ Jiwoo thought as he looked through the latest files the boy had open in their database.

He wanted to laugh seeing his bosses file show up. Connecting the pieces again, he wanted to laugh even more now knowing the reason to the belongs outside the window.

_I see you've figured it out then. Smart boy indeed._

He walked over to the sleeping figure of the bed, said boy had pieces of his blonde hair draped over his eyes. He just looked so soft, cuddly, and _innocent_. Jiwoo couldn't fathom how a man like this could be part of such industry.

It all just made him want to laugh, laugh until tears pricked the corner of his eyes. How could this boy keep himself hidden from his father for 3 years?! How his father thought the one day his son would return, he'd be caked in bruises and newly formed scars, and if not that, then _dead_.

Yet here he be. Lying in a peacefully state of slumber, in a nice bed, a comfy room, and in a somewhat safe home. At this point, Jiwoo thought this boy was safer here then he'd ever be at home.

His attention was quickly drawn to the noises he heard outside the bedroom door. _Footsteps_. Someone was awake, and whether they pit stopped here or not, he wasn't going to wait to find out. Seeing as all the he just gathered with only his eyes, he made his way towards the window. He was so close, so close it felt wrong.

And wrong it was indeed. Because steps away from his freedom, the door to the room opened, a silhouette coming in view. And just by his shadow, Jiwoo could tell the mans attention was solely on him.

"Hey!!" He shouted, the lump on the bed surprisingly not stirring at all by the sudden amount of noise.

The man raced forward, Jiwoo not wasting anytime to rush to the window, jumping out as he grabbed the rope, sliding down it until he hit the floor. Looking up as he saw the man at the window looking down at him, still yelling words Jiwoo chose to block out and ignore.

He spared no glance as he raced to meet up with his crew, not wanting to allow their enemy any time to catch up.

>•<

Doing his nightly checkup, Chan walked in and out of each of her members rooms, making sure they were safe, and comfortably tucked into their beds. It was a father habit he picked up, but he didn't mind it asking as it helped keep his brothers safe.

Although walking into Hyunjins room, he didn't expect the window to be open and some man meeting eyes with his own. It was so sudden it took Chan a second to come back to reality.

"Hey!!" He shouted, worriedly looking over at the sleeping Hyunjin to see if his shout woke him. Thankfully it didn't, but a part of him wished it did just to show the boy was okay.

Turning back to the man, he raced forward right as the man made his escape from the window. Chan rushed to the window, looking out and down it to see the man look up at him with a grin.

"Your fucker! What did you do!" Chan shouted, getting no response as the man raced off. Chan growled, sticking his head back inside as he closed the window. The anger immediately subsiding as his attention was drawn back to the sleeping lump. At least, Chan hoped to god he was just sleeping.

He rushed over to the sleeping beauty, quickly checking him over. He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he released it upon finding out the boy was in fact unharmed.

_Okay wait. What the hell just happened?_

Now that everything was calm, what had just happened was now pondering in his mind. What did that person want? Not that he was complaining but, why didn't the person hurt Hyunjin? They were alone and had all the time they need to do so! But just the thought of that man deciding to hurt Hyunjin made Chan quiver. He couldn't bare the thought of losing Him. He wouldn't allow it.

Knowing Hyunjin was okay, Chan started checking the room for anything missing, suspicious or dangerous. And after checking under the bed, in the closet and in other easy-to-hide spots, he swiftly moved over to the desk where Hyunjins computer was on.

And like that, the rather calmness that had overcomes him was suddenly ripped from him. Seeing the screen; Forstrayers Database. Oh how he hoped to go whoever snuck in wasn't part of that Mafia, and he hoped that they didn't make any connections. His vision trailed back over to the sleeping younger, his eyes filling with worry.

He was worried that there secret teammate wasn't going to be kept such a secret for much longer. All odds seemed to be against them in these times and it worried him. For the past week it's been negatives over negatives; Hyunjin finding out who his father was, And then them finding out they were basically being stalked.

And most of all, it worried him most of all that he was supposed to be their leader, their protector, yet he was starting to become clueless and empty minded when it came to solving this mess. He was failing them.

He sighed to himself before turning the computer off. Chan decided it would be best to keep what happened tonight to himself, only telling Hyunjin about it when the others weren't around. He didn't want a cause of worry, panicked brothers not in the right state of mind, he wanted everyone to remain calm. So as much as he hates secrets that are important as ones like these, it was for the better.

He smiled though after walking past the sleeping boy on his way out. At least one thing worked out tonight; Hyunjin never woke, never made a noise, and now Chan knew that Hyunjins deep sleeping seemed to have no limits.

>•<

Hyunjin woke up with the sunlight streaming into his room. _I really need a curtain for that gods forsaken window._ Although he wasn't only welcomed by the sunlight, but an odd feeling that he had missed something.

Did he wake up late when something was planned? Did he forget to do something that another had asked for him? Did he kiss someone off in his unknown hazed state of sleep? He didn't know, and none of the thoughts seemed reasonable enough.

Tiring his brain out already, Hyunjin got up, deciding to figure out what the rest of the house was up to. He was a tad bit worried at how quiet it seemed to be, normally at this time someone would be yelling. Maybe he was just overthinking things.

Or maybe everyone had woken up not much earlier than him, which is what he had come to terms with upon seeing some of his members eating bowls of cereal in complete silence, all of them half asleep, fighting to keep their eyes open and heads from falling into their bowls.

Hyunjin fought to hold back a snicker at the sight. Normally by the time he woke up, the others had been up a little bit longer. So seeing this state of them was quiet a rare sight.

Jisung looked up as Hyunjins movement was seen through the corner of his eyes. “Morning Jin, Chan wants to see you.” He told him, Hyunjins steps coming to a halt, his head tilting to the side on confusion.

“Don’t ask cause i don’t know either.” Jisung shrugged, finding more interest in the cereal he was eating that any drama his teammates had.

“Okay then...” Hyunjin turned and walked his way back up the stairs. All those thoughts like he missed something, yeah those came back and he wondered why Chan would want to see him. Although he did have a feeling that it would be about his dad or Forstrayer, since that’s what all the tea was about these days.

He knocked on the office doors, which he really just wanted to start calling it Chan’s room seeing as the boy basically lived there. Hearing a ‘small come’ in, he slowly pushed the door open to see Chan’s face in a computer.

Chan looked up at Hyunjin’s presence, “Ah, Hyunjin, Sleep well i hope?” He asked, his focus going onto the boy who worriedly stepped into his office.

“Oh—uh yeah. So what did you want to see me for?” Hyunjin asked, taking a seat in the couch he sat in a couple days prior.

“Right. So i’m just going to make it short and simple; Someone broke into your room last night.” Chan stated, his eyes traveling Hyunjin’s face to read his emotions following his statement.

But now Hyunjin definitely understood the ‘did i miss something?’ feeling.

“Doing my nightly checkup, i walked into your room and i saw a man by your window. He escaped sadly but after checking your room to see if he did anything, i noticed your computer was on. And specifically, on Forstrayers database.” Chan explained, shifting in his seat as the worried tension filled the room.

Hyunjins eyes widened. If whoever broke in was able to see what he was up to, he worried connections could be made by the wrong people. “Do you know who or what group they belonged too?” He asked.

“No, but seeing as we are being stalked by an enemy, i have no doubts that it’s Forstrayer who broke in. And now i’m worried that information is now out that shouldn’t be.” Chan told him, Hyunjin nodding in agreement.

Hyunjin hated this. How was this fair at all?! He himself hadn’t even learned about his families secrets till a week ago and now everyone seemed to be Finding out. He was becoming overwhelmed. He felt like people were now seeing him as a pawn in some twisted game.

“This all being said, I’m not going to keep you out of missions because of this. I think it’s actually safer that your part of missions instead of being here alone.” Chan explained.

Hearing Chan tell him this, Hyunjin felt relieved for something he didn’t even know he was worried for. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that he might have to stay out of missions for his safety. But just knowing now that that wasn’t a possibility made him feel better knowing he wasn’t going to be stressing out over it.

“But i don’t want you going out alone, which isn’t something new. Due to us being watched i had told y’all earlier i didn’t want you going out alone, so just continue to keep that in mind.” Chan looked back at his computer, feeing a bit better getting the whole situation off his chest now.

“Will this be kept between us two?” Hyunjin asked, Chan turning to face him again.

“Oh, Yes actually. I don’t want the others panicking more than they already could be.” Chan could already envision the youngest of the group becoming even more clingy than they were now.

“Okay, before i go down, Do you need anything hyung? Knowing you, you’ve probably kept yourself cooped in here to keep yourself from blabbering and to keep your emotions in check.” Hyunjin asked, a small smile appearing knowing how hard working Chan was.

Chan blushed, feeling totally exposed by his teammate. “Yeah, you caught me. I’ll take a coffee though if you don’t mind.”

“Gotcha mate.” Hyunjin replied, trying his best to act Australian as he said ‘mate.’

He hurriedly raced back down the stairs, he swore he’d be getting a workout by doing so today. The kitchen was mainly empty now, most members returning to their quarters or plopping down on the couch to see what shows the TV brought on.

Grabbing a coffee mug, he set it down on the coffee maker, putting the coffee flavoring in the keg before setting it off. And then he stood, awkwardly staring at the coffee maker for a good minute before the coffee was actually done, steaming in his face as he picked it up. He then added creamer, careful not to add too much to too little knowing how picky Chan was with his coffee.

Hyunjin then went up the stairs _again_. This time now not as fast to avoid spilling the coffee. He didn’t need a moody Chan.

“Ahh thank you Jinnie.” Chan said, taking a sip of the warm drink as soon as Hyunjin handed it to him.

“No problem, anything else you need?” Hyunjin asked, hand already on the door, ready to race into whatever he was doing next.

Which ended up being nothing. Chan was a big softy and felt bad for making his teammates do too much for him, so he sent Hyunjin off with another thank you. Thankfully, Jeongin came to his rescue, begging the older to follow him.

And he did, he couldn’t resist the younger, he was too cute and Hyunjin hated it.

“Your invited to our cuddle session hyung!” Jeongin said, excitedly throwing his arms out for Hyunjin to see the dog pile mess on Jeongin’s bed.

“Come onnn Hyunjin, you know you can’t resist the cuddles~” Felix coaxed, he was buried under a couple blankets, Jisung’s head laying on his legs and Seungmin’s head on chest.

Jeongin didn’t give him any time to retort as he grabbed Hyunjins arm and led him to the bed, but Hyunjin didn’t struggle. Cause Felix was right, cuddles with his family we’re definitely un-resistible. He smirked before dive bombing onto the bed, Jeongin following in suit.

And less than 5 minutes; of stuggling to share blankets and getting comfortable, later, they were and snuggled in, the warmth and comfort making their eyelids heavy.

“Wait, why are we sleeping again? It’s 1:30 in the afternoon.”

“Shut the fuck up Seungmin, it’s nap time.”

“Jisung! Language! There’s a baby in here!”

Jisung and Jeongin groaned.

>•<

“How could you loose the deal?!” Changho shouted at his Niece, making her cower in her seat.

“I don’t know uncle-“

“Sir.” He corrected her, making her cower in her chair even more.

“I don’t know sir. I got there on time and everything! I was keeping an eye out for him and then i got a text thanking me for the exchange!” Yeji explained, he eyes telling the truth themselves.

Even if she wasn’t.

She was lying of course. She knew what happened and couldn’t give a damn about it. But she wasn’t going to expose her cousin. She saw just how happy he was with Stray kids that night. It was a smile she had rarely seen, one far different from the constant fake one. It was real, genuine.

“I swear, sometimes Yeji you really are useless.” Changho scowled.

Even if she was lying, some of his words did hurt her. She wasn’t useless, she just had a heart unlike the cold bastard that sat before her.

“I’m sorry Sir, i’ll try harder.” A lie.

“I’ll do better to meet your expectations.” Another lie.

Knowing that her cousin was now involved, she was going to do her damndest to mess up each time he was part of a mission. For example, oh no! There mission is to attack Stray kids with guns! Oops, somehow she missed every single bullet she had on her. Damn, what a terrible shot she was. Note the sarcasm.

“You better.” Changho replied, turning his chair to face the wall that had endless amounts of family pictures on it. From recent ones to ones that had to have dated back to the korean war times.

“Sir.” Someone called upon entering the office, making Yeji look up and Changho slowly turn back around.

“Jiwoo this best be important, i told you don’t visit unless it is.” Changho seethed, resting his hands on the desk in a combined fist.

“I do actually. I have very important news that i think you will be delighted to hear sir.” Jiwoo explained, taking a seat across from his boss.

Yeji, knowing very well the mission Jiwoo was assigned, started to worry. If he had figured it out, Hyunjin was screwed.

Changho on the other hand, his eyes immediately peeked with curiosity, a small smirk forming as well.

“Alright then boy, let me hear it.” Changho told him, confident in his finds already, not even knowing what they were. While Yeji, shrank in her seat, full of worry.

“I’ve found you son.” As soon as those few words flew out of his mouth, reactions had gone mad.

Yeji wanted to cry, she wanted the world to open up and swallow her hole, maybe even taking Hyunjin with her.

Changho stood abruptly from his seat, face full of shock as questions spat from his mouth.

“Where?! What’s his condition?! Is he safe?! We must get him now!!”

Jiwoo shoot his head, a small _tch_ coming from his mouth. “It’s not that easy sir. Sit back down please first, i’ll explain everything, i promise.”

Yeji wanted to bolt, she had to inform Hyunjin of this. But at the same time, she wanted to stay and listen, listen to see just as to what Jiwoo had found.

But she wasn’t given that chance. “Yeji, leave. I will have a meeting with you later as to your next mission.” Changho commanded, Yeji only being able to comply as she slowly left the office.

That didn’t stop her from eves-dropping though, for as soon as the office door closed, her ear was against it.

“Explain.” Changho urged, no patience whatsoever.

“Your son is with Stray kids.” Jiwoo informed, watching his boss immediately explode again.

“Those pests! I should’ve seen this coming! And they’ve hurt him haven’t they! Oh! Mark my words, soon they won’t see the end of daylight!!” He roared, standing up as he slammed his fist on his desk.

Jiwoo remained calm, actually quiet amused by his bosses outbreak. “Sir sit back down please, i’m not done.”

Changho complied with a sighed, struggling to compose himself.

“Your son is literally with Stray kids.” Jiwoo spoke, emphasizing the ‘with.’

He waited for his bosses reaction, which this time instead of a bounce up from his chair and shouting, he was met with a shocked face and quietness.

“Y-You mean..?” Changho stuttered, double checking to see if he was hearing his spy right.

“Yes. I mean your son is a part of Stray kids. He was the one who through out the objects. I broke in the room that i found the objects outside of. It was your sons room. He knows who you are sir.” Jiwoo continued to inform and watch his bosses face twist with shock.

And just like that, the will to save his son, free him from whatever nightmare he was living, was gone.

He composed himself again, face turning stern, “ _Than that is no son of mine. Continue your original mission of keeping eyes on Stray kids. Dismissed_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 200 Views already! You guys are insane, seriously. Thank you again for reading and i hope you continue to enjoy my book! <3


	6. Cooped up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being cooped up doesn’t leave Hyunjin anything to do but train, and annoy his members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a filler chapter, but still has some important parts.

Hyunjin was _exhausted_. Being cooped up in the base led him with nothing to do but train. Even if Chan had said they were now on a small break, he couldn't allow him to sit and do nothing. He wouldn't allow himself to go rusty knowing that storms could be brewing.

So he trained and trained, and if he wasn't training, he was learning as much as possible about Forstrayer. Which even that considered of late nights staring at a bright screen till his eyes begged to close.

But otherwise, countless hours were spent in the training room. If the punching bag was human, it definitely would have been beaten to a pulp by now.

His fists ached, thighs burned, his feet sore. Did that stop him? No, because he was a stubborn bitch. With his 'identity' possibly at leak, he felt the need to work even harder. He figured his father would see him as weak and shielded by his team. He'd be an 'easy target' or 'weapon' that his father could use against Stray Kids.

Hyunjin refused to be such pawn. He refused to be weak, even if he knew before hand that he wasn't, and hadn't been for a year. He had muscle built in his arms and legs, he had skill, and he had his mind. Put them all together and Hyunjin could hardly call that weak.

Tired of hitting the punching bag and swinging at air to practice his structures, he moved on to simple workouts. Although simple probably wasn't the right term, considering his simple workout started with 100 push-ups.

"You do know there is such thing called a break right?"

Hyunjin looked up mid push-up to see Minho stalk into the room, almost catlike. And knowing Minho's skill to be sneaky, Hyunjin swore he was part cat.

"Yes, but there is also something called getting rusty." Hyunjin grunted back, pushing himself from the floor, push-up number 56.

Minho sighed in seeing the boy overwork himself for probably the 3rd hour. He had already heard everything from a stressed Chan, and had no doubt Hyunjin's mind wasn't far from different.

"You work like you are fighting by yourself. You do have a team, don't you?" Minho asked, a tinge of pain in his heart when he realized Hyunjin probably felt alone in this fight.

Hyunjin stopped on his 78th push-up, containing his frustration from having to stop and talk. "Of course i do, i just don't want to be a burden." he replied, wiping the sheet of sweat from his forehead.

Minho sarcastically laughed, "You?! A burden?! Please Hyunjin. Have you seen yourself? How much you've helped us since you stepped foot into this life?" Minho was already recalling a couple nights ago when Hyunjin had sniped the Woman Thief in the skill right as he was sending a punch in Minho's direction.

"But do you see what trouble we may be facing soon?! We might have the whole of Forstrayer on our asses! All because i've allowed a realization of where i am." Hyunjin spat, ashamed of himself for putting his family in danger.

Minho scoffed. "So? Do you see us venting any anger towards you in that matter? Do you see us backing down in fear?"

"No..." Hyunjin quietly mumbled, staring down at his feet to avoid eye contact.

"So stop over thinking and believing that you are the one to solve all this! We are your..." Minho paused, trying to let the steam cool and allow the words to form from his, normally not emotional, mouth.

"We are you damn family Hyunjin. We aren't going to leave you high and dry to fend for yourself." Minho finished, his emotions coming to a cool.

Hyunjin just continued to stare at his feet, this time ashamed that he caused pain to his members. Which seeing him, Minho was able to read this, clear as day. Minho strode his way over to Hyunjin, placing his hands gently on the sides of the boys face.

"Hey. Stop beating yourself up over all this okay? Your not alone, never will be. And none of us could ever have to heart to blame you for any of this. So please, don't blame yourself." Minho paused, the boy in his hands still looking down at the floor.

"Look at me." Minho commanded in a gently tone. In which Hyunjin complied, looking up to see Minho's softened eyes. "Promise me. Promise me you won't." He begged.

Hyunjin hated the pain expression on his Hyungs face, leading him to slightly nod. A breath of relief coming from Minho as he did. But just when Hyunjin thought he was finally going to escape sappy Minho, Minho's eyes were drawn to Hyunjins fists. He didn't understand why until Minho slightly gasped.

"You dumbass!" Minho quietly shouted, taking both of Hyunjins hands into his own, inspecting the boys fists. Hyunjin hadn't even noticed, but they were slightly scratched and bleeding from all the constant punches.

"Gosh i swear, you sure you aren't related to Chan somehow?" Minho joked, leading Hyunjin over to the corner of the room where the first aid kit was.

"No. At least, i don't think so." Hyunjin responded, following along with Minho's attempt to loosen the tense mood.

Hyunjin hissed as Minho cleaned his fists with alcohol wipes, working fast to avoid any infections from sweat and germs. Minho chuckled softly at Hyunjins winces, "You did this to yourself smart one." he retorted earning a silent eye roll from the younger.

"I could hear that eye roll Hyunjin." Minho spoke, attention still focused on Hyunjins hands. They went back to silence, Minho getting to the final point where he was placing bandages on the cuts.

"And done! Now sir, i suggest a break from punching anything. Trust me, a couple days off for your hands to heal won't make you _rusty_." Minho assured watching Hyunjin inspect his injury aid job.

Hyunjin heard Minho though and had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes again. "Yes ma'am." Hyunjin remarked, snorting at Minho's quick expression change.

"Ma'am?!" Minho yelped, a playful intent evident. "Oh now your asking for it." He continued, smirk growing quickly as he reached for Hyunjin.

Hyunjin, who screamed as soon as Minho jumped for him, was being tickled everywhere. With Minho being the hyung that always finds a way for revenge, Minho knew all of Hyunjins tickle spots. So in a short, Hyunjin was screwed.

"H-Hyung! Ah—wait not—no!! Not t-there!" Hyunjin exasperatedly shouted in his now weak attempts to escape Minho, who was now reaching for Hyunjins worst ticklish spot; the sides of his stomach.

"Nope! You asked for this!" Minho shouted over Hyunjins laughs and protests, still too weak from laughing leading to his escape plans to fail.

"Oh come on! I thought you've been training? But it seems you can't even escape a tickle fight!" Minho taunted, continuing his evil plan of ticking Hyunjin, who's pleads were becoming breathless.

"P-pleaseee Hyung. I—ahaha—give up!" Hyunjin begged, now a dead weight on the floor.

Minho chuckled, but ended up stopping, Hyunjins exasperated gasps filling the room. He laid flat on the ground, eyes closed as he regained his normal breathing pace. "That was so mean." He groaned.

Minho just shrugged his shoulders, but never ended the playful game. "Gosh your screams." He complained, covering his ears as a way of saying Hyunjin was loud, which only earned him a scoff.

"I think my eardrums have died. Lesson learned, shove tissue paper in Hyunjins mouth next time." Minho continued to whine, adding a playful remark that had Hyunjin sitting up in an instant.

"There's gonna be a next time?! I almost died!" Hyunjin asked, his breathing still slightly uneven.

Minho smirked. "Round two?" he asked, pulling tissue paper from the first aid kit.

"No, No, No, No—No." Hyunjin pleaded, scooting farther and farther from his new enemy.

Minho laughed, his eyes turning into crescents. "I'm just kidding Jinnie. Though i won't be surprised if there is a round two in your future. Maybe you should watch who you mess with." Minho said, his game seeming to have no end.

Minho sighed, leaning his back against the wall. "Although that was really just an attempt to get you smiling. _Genuinely_." he explained, closing his eyes as his head rest against the wall.

Hyunjin finally found his spark to play back. "Jeesh Hyung, didn't know you were such a softy."

And like that, Minho's eyes flew open, his hand flew towards the tissue paper he had sat on the floor, and he dived towards Hyunjin, who's eyes could've popped out of their sockets as he screeched and attempted to get up and run. But Minho seemed faster today and Hyunjin didn't make it out of the room without being tickled into his second life.

>•<

Later that night, Chan had decided that it was probably a good time to call a team meeting. He had kept himself relevantly quiet, only spilling to Hyunjin of course, but also Changbin and Minho, the other eldest that would understand.

But after talking to Hyunjin, they decided it would be best to get everyone up to date. So now they all sat in the living room, Chan and Changbin standing while everyone else sat, much like the team meeting they had the first night Hyunjin arrived.

And as Hyunjin sat in his basically reserved corner of the couch, his nerves were doing cartwheels. After agreeing to let the others in on the tea, Hyunjin couldn't escape the thought that some members would hate him. He was scared that some would figure he had known about everything all along and yell at him for not telling them. He couldn't bare the thought of one of them calling him a traitor.

"So we are all here for something very important," Chan started softly, immediately quieting everyone down. "And before i explain this to you all, i need you all to have your emotions and common sense in check. Got it?" Chan asked, his tone leaning more towards the commanding tone now.

After getting silent nods, he continued, "I also want you to know that me and Changbin fingered this out years ago, but _He_ only figured out a week ago, so before you go accusing and blaming, _he_ didn't know either." Chan explained, a small weight lifted off Hyunjins chest as he did.

"A week ago Hyunjin went to the Cafe down the block, do any of you remember this?" Changbin asked, his eyes wondering from each member when they landed on Jeongin's wide eyes. "I do hyung!"

Changbin nodded, "Good, so we have a witness. Anyway, that day Hyunjin had a one sided encountered with someone at that Cafe. And Hyunjin recognized this person to be his father." Changbin paused, this time catching Hyunjins eye who urged him on.

"He wanted to leave to avoid being caught when, as we know, his father claims him missing. But his father and some other guys sat near him and so Hyunjin stayed and eves dropped." Changbin explained.

"Ooo sneaky, sneaky Hwang." Jisung quietly joked, poking Hyunjin in the shoulder. Hyunjin chuckled at Jisungs obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

"This is when he learned that his dad is the official boss of Forstrayer." Changbin let it out, in one clean cut, everything seemed to be out of the bag.

Hyunjin felt his insides turn at the sudden tense mood and attention turned towards himself. He could feel eyes burning into his scull but he refused to face them. They were confused stares, but he still just couldn't do it.

"Now, Hyunjins dad didn't know where Hyunjin was, he didn't know that Hyunjin was here with us as a member of Stray kids, until recently, we fear." Chan continued this time and Hyunjin felt the eyes draw away, a breath of relief.

"The other night someone broke into Hyunjins room through the window." Hyunjin heard small gasps, but he still couldn't determine the way his teammates felt about him right now.

"And left on Hyunjins computer screen was Forstrayers database, more specifically, his fathers file. So we have reason to believe that whoever broke in was part of Forstrayer, and whoever broke in knows where Hyunjin is. And if they now have the information Hyunjins dad is so dearly after, their mouths will never be sealed." Chan explained. Hyunjin still refused to turn, he didn't want to turn and see the anger radiating off his members.

But he felt a small hand grasp his own and all those thoughts seemed to disappear. He looked down to see Felix's hand somehow engulf his own, and looking up he met Felix's sad eyes. Their eyes meeting only led to Felix squeezing his hand more. The small action seemed to say _I'm still here._

"We don't know what will happen now. And we figured it wouldn't be wise to keep y'all out of the loop." Chan finished, the members finally being able to turn to Hyunjin, in which Hyunjin feared, to give him their anger.

Yet that's not what he got. But he should've known this. He had some weird version of Minho give him a sappy conversation earlier, he's been with these guys for three years and they all cared deeply for one another. He should've known that they would understand.

His thoughts had gone hazy by the time he was pulled to the floor, giving the others plenty of room to dog pile on.

"Gosh Hyung, i can't even hear your thoughts but you face says it all." Jeongin wore a pained expression when Hyunjin saw him. He was curled into Hyunjins side, hugging him as if Hyunjin would disappear at any moment.

"Then what are my thoughts saying Innie." Hyunjin whispered out, the other 00line members listening in as they cuddled the dog pile.

Jeongin seemed to hug him tighter, "That we were angry with you. That we blamed you for all of this. I know you Hyung. Whether your face wore it or not, i could see these thoughts coming from a mile away." he explained, Hyunjin softening in Jeongin's hold. God how he loved cuddling with his family. Even in the worst circumstances they were amazing and comforting.

"You idiot." He heard Seungmin say from his back side, a light punch coming with it. "How could you think that?" Seungmin seemed to beg.

Hyunjin sighed, "I couldn't help it."

This made groans go all around the room. "Typical Hyunjin, The over thinker." Changbin joked, his face soft from the sight of all the maknaes in a cuddle pile.

And then the mood was over. Hyunjin was happy that no one was mad at him, but the jokes had already started and the tense, emotional mood was gone.

With the mood ruined, they all piled into the kitchen to decided on dinner. And whereas normally Minho and some others would be leading the cooking, Minho whined and put his body weight onto the wall, leaning against it for support.

"I don't wanna cook to tonightttt." Minho moped, his legs not too far from giving out on him. Jisung seemed to catch on rather quickly. Exactly why Hyunjin had given them their own nickname of _Double Trouble._

"I don't eitherrrr. How about we order pizza?" Jisung whined, leaning onto Changbin who had to fight the urge to move over and let the boy fall.

"Jisung you don't ever cook." Felix started, "But i won't disagree with Pizza." His eyes lighting up as he turned to Chan, who already looked so embarrassed by his whiny teammates.

Chan sighed, looking up to meet the others who had chosen to not whine. "Any oppositions?" he asked, getting quiet no's or head shakes. He sighed again, rubbing his temple. "Pizza it is."

They ended up ordering One cheese,one pepperoni and one meat lovers pizza. And they were all seated at the table chopping to the bit only 30 minutes after placing their order. Chan cleared his throat after finishing his third piece, some heads looking up at him for his reasoning.

"I actually forgot to tell you guys, we have another mission. In two days we are meeting up with Kim Chinhwa, a very popular weapon dealer on the dark web." Chan stated, taking a swig of his drink while he waited for reactions.

"Chan the dark web? Do you know how dangerous that place is?” Changbin asked, his face contorting with worry.

Chan nodded silently, "Yes, which is why i did my research. Ateez did a deal with this guy not too long ago. They said it was all legit and he was actually a nice guy." he explained. He wasn't going to lead his team into a death trap, so in his free time he had looked the guy over.

"What are we even trying to get?" Minho wondered, mouth half full of his slice of pizza.

"Poison bullets." Chan informed, earning a groan from Jisung.

"What's with poison now a days huh? We just bought 200 bags of poisonous cocaine that will just sit in the basement. Now we are buying poisonous bullets?" Jisung whined, leaning back in his chair like a child.

"Well for starters, we can actually use these bullets. These bullets are more meant to be graze shots. With the bullet cutting the skin, the poison on the tip can work its way into the enemies body. I know some of you still grimace at the thought of killing someone so violently. So i figured it would help us all if we had another easier way to take down our enemies." Chan explained, the expressions of his teammates turning into curious and excited ones.

"Ooo! That actually sounds great Hyung!" Hyunjin exclaimed. He didn't really struggle with killing someone, but sometimes it did get to him and he would have to snap himself out of it. These poisonous bullets would really just make a lot of things easier.

Chan smiled, feeling accomplished. "That's what i thought. So in two days time, we will all be heading out to pick these up. Some of you guys will just stay in the van and some will come with me, but i feel it will just be easier with us all there."

"And where is this happening?" Jeongin asked, probably on his 4th piece by now as he reached into the pizza box.

"An abandoned warehouse about 15 minutes away." Chan told them, earning some scoffs and laughs.

"Because that totally isn't sus!" Hyunjin exclaimed, laughing with Jisung at his side.

"Someone plays too much among us." someone mumbled amongst the chaos. Chan heard it though and chuckled.

"Trust me i know, but Yunho said that that's exactly we're they had the exchange too." Chan informed, the youngest meeting his gaze.

"Maybe because people think it's too suspicious to hold any activity, so it will be a good place to do this." Jeongin imputed, Chan snapped and pointed in his direction before smiling that the boy was catching on.

"Exactly."

"Guys i think we know who the imposters are."

"God someone shove toilet paper in his mouth before he continues his Among us fantasy."

>•<

Hyunjin lay in bed that night with a mind full to himself. He definitely felt a lot better after the days events, but still felt his mind was full. So he laid in bed, a sketch book and pen in hand with his phone as his light source.

He wanted to draw something that made him feel a bit at peace, but at the same time spoke how he felt in ink. So all in one line, he drew a wilting flower. A wilting flower that only had 7 petals left, holding the flower together.

He had his internal reasons that made sense every time he looked at the finished product. But to everyone else, it was just a wilting flower made of a single continuous line of ink.

"Hyung?" A small voice asked after knocking quietly twice as an alert.

Hyunjin looked up from his sketchbook, immediately putting it and the pen on his bedside table.

"What is it Innie?" Hyunjin asked softly, a bit of tiredness lave in his voice.

"Can i cuddle with you?" Jeongin asked, his hands nervously rubbing together, as if he was embarrassed to ask.

But then again, this was at least a weekly thing for the two. Jeongin would have a sudden lonely feeing that only Hyunjin could fix. He was just warm and cuddly like that, which made some question his cold demeanor that would appear during missions and training.

"Jeongin, do you really even need to ask?" Hyunjin chuckled as the youngest eyes started to sparkle.

Hyunjin scooted over in his bed and tapped the now empty space next to him, the sign for Jeongin to climb in. And he did, Hyunjin immediately pulling the covers and blankets over the two. As soon as they were settled, Jeongin curled into Hyunjins side, absorbing his warmth.

"Thank you hyung." Jeongin mumbled under his comfy and cuddled state.

"Anytime. What's the reason this time though?" Hyunjin asked, turning his head slightly to see Jeongin buried in blankets, over his eyes peeking through.

Jeongin sighed, "Just after today's meeting, i felt like i'd loose you." Jeongin mumbled again against the blankets and pillows.

Hyunjin smiled at this. He really did find an amazing family. And he hadn't realized how important he really was, he didn't see how much they really cared. And he didn't realize how they'd be off if he were to disappear.

Hyunjin snuggled up to Jeongin more, "I'm not going anywhere Innie, at least, not without putting up a fight first."

"Good." Hyunjin could tell Jeongin was sleepy. The short response seemed to drag and Jeongin's eye lids seemed to droop.

So, Hyunjin played with Jeongin's hair. It calmed them both in a way, and Hyunjin knew in a matter of minutes, Jeongin would be out like a light. He braided little tufts that would only fall apart as soon as he let go. He ran his fingers through the soft locks, somehow hitting no tangles. And like he presumed, a few minutes later he heard light snores.

_Cute~_

Although all of Stray kids were now Hyunjins brothers, Jeongin hit different. He couldn't pin point it, but he knew Jeongin felt the same. They both often came to each other for comfort, out of boredom, or just for each other's company. Hyunjin just felt like he could be someone else around Jeongin, more relaxed, more of his youth. Not stressed, spending hours in training or having to act older to fit in.

Around Jeongin those barriers came crashing down, and he didn't realize how exhausting it was to hold them up. So when his eye lids got heavy, when each blink was slower and slower and when his body had realized to the point of a brag of bricks, he let it consume him.

He let sleep have it's way in the cormfort of his bed, the comfort of the warmth and the comfort of having his little brother next to him. He let his eye lids fall with a small smile out of content on his face.

>•<

He didn't like this guest. He didn't like how they seemed to show up out of nowhere, knowing their location and knowing their identity. Chan didn't like it at all.

Nor did he like how the first thing they said when he opened the door was "Let me talk to Hyunjin."

So now here he was, racing up the stairs and down the hallway to said boys room. It was 9:24 am and he knew damn well Hyunjin wasn't awake. He knew he'd have to wake him from his slumber and Hyunjin would t be happy about it.

But he had too. He didn't know who this person was and the only way to gain and answer seemed to be to get Hyunjin down stairs and talking.

Quietly opening the boys room, Chan cooed at the sight. It was one of his favorite sights to see, Hyunjin and Jeongin cuddled up and sleeping soundlessly. And he hated that he had to ruin it.

He walked over to Hyunjins side and shook the boy. He would've been gentler but he knew if he was, Hyunjin wouldn't budge. But even with his more violet shakes, Hyunjin was still silent.

So he moved on to try tickling, which with the boy in his current brick state, he didn't flinch with that either.

Chan sighed, hating what he was forced to try next. Positioning his mouth next to Hyunjins ear, he took a deep breath,

"HYUNJIN WAKE THE FUCK UP!!"

And finally he got a response. Jeongin jumped and sat up quickly to see what was causing such noise, while Hyunjins eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Oh." Hyunjin yawned, "Good morning Channie Hyung." He mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Chan chuckled, both at Hyunjins nonchalant response and Jeongin's panicked response. "Good Morning guys." He turned his attention more towards Hyunjin, "Someone is outside and they want to speak with you." He informed.

Hyunjins seemed to instantly fully wake up. "Who is it?" He asked, getting a shrug from Chan.

"Dunno but they was to speak with you, uh—now."

And with that Hyunjin jumped out of bed and raced downstairs. He could care less if his hair was disheveled or that he was in a random pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He got downstairs and saw Minho, what looked to be, standing guard by the front door.

Finally coming face to face with whoever wanted to talk to him, Hyunjin paled. He couldn't tell if the sweat smile was fake and hiding the true evilness.

"Don't be alarmed, i'm not here to cause any damage." The lady informed, trying to make Minho back down.

"Mom?" Hyunjin stammered, not quite sure why she was here and how she found them.

" _Hi sweetheart, we need to have a serious talk._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i luckily have wifi right now. In Texas due to the cold we’ve lost power. So i’m posting this while i can. Stay safe everyone! <3


	7. Warehouse Misfortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, we’re are starting this bumpy ride.
> 
> **IMPORTANT NOTE @ BOTTOM**  
> **I miss Hyunjinnie :(**

" _Hi sweetheart, we need to have a serious talk._ "

At that moment, any thought of his mother seemed to disappear. He wanted to think she was innocent but he didn't know what she knew, or what she didn't. He didn't know what she was part of, and what she wasn't.

He became overwhelmed not knowing if he should trust the woman before him. He could control his emotions, "How did you get here?" He seethed. He wasn't intending on sounding rude, but again, he didn't know where she was placed in this dilemma.

His mother sighed, walking past both him and Minho as she made her way to the couch, immediately taking a seat. "Well i am not blind to your father's business, so it was quite easy when all he talks about is this place." She informed, he eyes traveling the interior of the base.

She smiled and turned her eyes back to her son and the shocked boy next to him. "So how have you been honey?" She asked as if this wasn't horrible and awkward timing.

Hyunjin wanted to be nice, he really did, but not knowing about his mother and her tone right now, he was just confused. "You can't just come in here and start casual conversations! What are you really here for?" He begged in a rather commanding tone.

His mother's smile dropped, her smile seeming fake as soon as it did. "I came to see you, honestly. I've always known about the horrible things your father does, so it's not uncommon that i find myself wondering Forstrayers base. And suddenly it was going around that you were part of Stray kids. I instantly knew i needed to find your location." She spoke, her eyes full of shame.

"So if your here, and knowing there are eyes on us, are there men outside? Do they know your here?" Minho stepped in, worried that this meeting wouldn't end well.

She shook her head. "As much as they say there are eyes on you 24/7, there really aren't. So as of right now, no ones here. I even checked for their car to see if they had parked a couple buildings down, but there was nothing."

Chan who had quietly entered the room and was now leaning against the wall, was putting things together. All of this did put everything together and finally, although i'm not the best circumstances, they didn't seem so lost.

The man that had broken in that night was part of Forstrayer and it seems as when he returned to his base he didn't keep his mouth shut. Otherwise Hyunjins mom wouldn't be here and wouldn't even know what Hyunjin was a part of.

"Okay, so now that the cats out of the bag, what do you know?" Chan asked, seeming to step out of the darkness and into their awareness.

Hyunjins gaze met with his mother's saddened one. "It's obvious he knows of you now Hyunjin, but he has no intent to stop anything. I'm talking to Yeji, she mentioned that your father, upon finding out, said you were no son of his."

Hyunjin couldn't say he was surprised, not could he admit to caring. As far as he was concerned, that was no _father_ of his.

"I guess we are even then." Hyunjin scoffed, "He's no father of mine either."

This made his mother smile. But the sadness was still evident in her eyes. "I'm sorry i don't know much." She mumbled, feeling sorry that she couldn't help out her son when he needed it.

Hyunjins eyes widened, he grabbed his mother's hand mc giving it a light squeeze. "Don't be sorry mom, in fact, i'm happy you don't know much. I don't want you getting hurt because you were trying to help me." He told her. He had feared that even when it came to his own wife, his father wouldn't give any sympathy.

But then his mind went to something else his mother had just said, "Wait, Yeji?" He questioned her.

His mother nodded. "She's in the drug and spy departments. So she doesn't do much but go trading dangerous drugs around and getting information, all forced by your father of course." She mumbled the last part, it only being loud enough for Hyunjin to hear.

He started thinking after hearing about Yeji. Her saw her the night of a drug trade that they were intercepting. Was it possible she was the one supposed to pick up the cocaine? Did she figure out that night where Hyunjin had been? If so, She just let him get away with it?

It was obvious if she had figured it out, she kept quiet, seeing as all the commotion seemed to have started after the break in.

"She told me how scared she was the moment Jiwoo walked in." His mother explained. "She knew what mission he was on, and seeing him come in with a smirk meant nothing good."

"Jiwoo?" Hyunjin seemed to question every person his mother mentioned.

"Yes, He's one of the best spy's under your fathers mafia. I believe he's actually the one leading this 'eyes on Stray Kids' mission. Your father speaks very highly of him." His mother retorted with an eye roll.

"If only he could see you." She sighed, but went to pinch his cheeks, a typical impressed mother move.

Hyunjin playfully scoffed, "How do you know i'm any good?" He asked.

"It's been three years Hyunjin, and you've been here the whole time." She told him, Hyunjin still not fully understanding.

"Okay and?" He questioned.

"Your not dead yet." She blatantly told him, crossing her arms playfully as she looked at her son.

He didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not, But he knew someone didn't.

Minho snorted at her remark, "Yet."

Hyunjin shot him a nasty, but playful glare, as if to say _Shut the Fuck up_. But how him mothers radiating happiness seemed to drop, he looked back at her.

"I must take my leave now Hyunjin. I'm sorry that i don't have much information, but here," She handed him a slip of paper she had seemed to bull from her hand purse. "My number. Seems you have a new phone and this would be an easy way to contact you when i find out anything more. Plus, i miss talking to you."

Hyunjin could tell she was trying to not get emotional, but that was clearly failing. Tears pricked her eyes as she stared at the couch she was on. "I thought you were dead Jin. For so god damn long." The tears were now falling and more dared to follow.

"And now when i finally find out your alive, and seemingly happy, your father has to go and be a cold hearted dick." Hyunjin had never heard his mother talk about her husband like that. She was never one to allow he anger to control her, but seeing her now, his disappearance and his fathers actions must have broken her.

He didn't know what to say, he just stared at his hands as he tried and tried again to pop a knuckle that he had already popped seconds ago.

"Just text me okay? Keep me in the loop. If y'all don't trust me, i understand. You can give me the slightest updates that give away nothing." She told them, a sad smile one her lips once again. Hyunjin hated seeing her like this. There life wasn't meant to be this way. Her life wasn't meant to be this way. Hyunjin knew damn well she didn't sign up for this upon their marriage.

"Okay, i will. Stay safe mom. If your truly on our side, i don't know what dad would do if he found out you'd been conspiring with us." Hyunjin informed, standing up with his mom, walking her to the door.

"But i'd rather not find out." He finished, opening the door, a gust of wind blowing his hair into his eyes.

"Don't worry about me okay? Just keep yourself safe." She paused to get on her tippy toes, she was slightly shorter then Hyunjin and he had to hold in a giggle when he realized her target.

Finally reaching, she kissed his softly on the cheek. It felt like a goodbye kiss, but his heart hurt to think that way.

"I love you Jinnie." She spoke softly, going back down on her heels. Hyunjin couldn't help but smile, "Love you too mom."

The house was suddenly too quiet after she left.

>•<

Hyunjin had spent the next couple of hours in his room. It was safe to say at this point that he truly felt comfort behind the door to his room. He'd turn off any other sound in the room except the fan, the noise of it being calming.

And as much as he wanted his thoughts to stay calm, his mind wasn't so easy to persuade. And sadly his mind wasn't a virgin to the image of a dead body, so his thoughts, being the cruel thing they were, showed him images he had not wished to see.All the ways he could possibly find his mother dead flashed through his mind.

Hung; her face deathly pale, her lifeless eyes staring into the nothingness, her body dangling as if it weighed nothing but the same as a feather. A blue, purple and green mixed bruise appearing under the tight rope that wrapper 'round her neck.

Shot, a bullet lodged through her scull, a piercing crack as the bullet made way. Blood endlessly pouring from the gaping hole, her eyes stuck in the same terror they were as the gun went off, wide open with fear, but less life as her own life had already been drained.

Stabbed, a knife straight through her heart as if she were some vampire. Blood pooling from the flesh wound as her body twitched with the final heartbeats. Cackling heard in the back ground as men hunched over in laughter, "What a slut." More bursts of laughter from the simple use of a term women are called just for betrayal and breathing. Even if intercourse wasn't involved.

Hyunjin shuddered as there were many more images, to cruel for the faint of heart.

Deciding it was best to distract himself, he wondered into his bathroom, eyes scanning the room for the small cupboard that held half full bottles of all the hair colors he had tried. And as he looked in the mirror, the idea of what he had in mind made his miss the blonde that had yet to be removed.

He pulled out the black and silver hair dye bottles, and with his hair already being a light shade, black would easily fit.

He scoured the cabinets for some gloves and a mixing bowl, not forgetting to grab the small brush that made dying his hair just at abut easier. But the fun part about what he was doing was no one expected it, meaning he would get a laugh out of the reactions.

He squeezed the black dye into the first bowl, immediately putting some of the brush and applying it to the top half of his hair first. Then making his way down after he was sure he made a thick coat for each bundle of hair.

Looking in the mirror again, he laughed. He hadn't had black hair in a hot minute, so seeing his hair coated in black that stuck to his head made him relive the old days.

But now he had to wait, which he wasn't good at. So he wondered him room, checking the clock every other minute. At one point stopping to stare at the window. He was thankful for having a window seat as he didn't realize how much time he doesn't staring out into the forest.

Not had he realized how fast time was moving. The warm but cool weather would soon come to an end as winter neared. He could already see trees in the distant loose their leaves, their branches becoming bare. The grass, which once was home to many patches of flowers, now bared patches of green, that even they faded in color.

And finally, 45 minutes had passed. Seeing as the clock had now reached the time he had set in his head 45 minutes ago, he rushed to his bathroom bath, turning the faucet on. From his restricted view, the water was black, just barely transparent.

He hoped it wouldn't stain his bleach white bathtub because Chan would surely kill him.

He stayed with his head under the faucet until the water no longer showed color. Then removing his head, he grabbed a towel and began drying it because he still had another color to add.

His hair now dry enough, he moved back over to his 'dying station,' which was really just the sink. He grabbed a cap from under the sink and the small tool that went along with it. He hadn't done something like this since his hair was short, and he knew right away it would be more difficult.

Hyunjin then spent a good 30 minutes pulling decent sized strands of hair through the holes of the cap, his scalp even becoming pained each time the small tool reached for a piece of hair. But then afterwards, he was finally able to put the silver into action.

Grabbing a good sized glob of the dye, he then reached for his hair and mixed it in, even going for not only seconds of the silver glob, but thirds, just to make sure he was thoroughly mixing the dye in.

Then 45 more minutes were spent in the window seat either with Hyunjin staring out, or just being in the seat for comfort as he doodled in his sketchbook. And this time, instead of a withering flower, he drew a mountain range that had many trees of cherry blossoms. Surely a figment of his imagination, yet it was still pretty.

Back under the faucet he went as soon as the 45 minutes was up. It was a lot harder to tell when he had rinsed the excess dye out do you the lightness of the color, but in the end he had hoped to get it all out. And once again, towel drying his hair afterwards.

Looking in the mirror for hopefully the last time that night, Hyunjin smirked. It was a never ending cycle when he dyed his hair, he always felt like a badass after. Thus this time was no different, especially with the look he tried this time.

Feeling accomplished and proud for wasting two and half hours of his time, he sat bat down in the window seat just in time to see the sun fall. Or as Jeongin called it, Moon rise.

Jeongin was such a child at some times that Hyunjin questioned how he functioned. There were times were he was a 10 year old in a year 19 olds body. But other times he seemed to be a middle aged adult. He had weird perceptions of his own life, like calling sunrise and sunset moonrise and moonfall.

He called the shadows whispers, and told them his reasoning was because that's all they do. Whispers of the wind, and secrets of whatever they shadow. The hidden truth to every object and being.

But other times, it was cuddle time or TV time. Jeongin was some kind of multi-aged assassin, and he was damn well good at it. Hyunjin wouldn't be surprised though if Jeongin's personality had grown as his time was spent around Seungmin, who didn't differ much.

Seungmin was just more serious, a softy, but serious. He didn't have weird morals or outlooks, he just took things serious. He will blatantly tell you the truth instead of coming up with some sorry excuse. Although most of this only occurs when he's tired, upset, or on missions when life is not one to joke with.

One mistake and your life might cut out like a dead lightbulb.

Hyunjin himself fell more around the 'depends on what's going on' attitude. Sure, he was as serious as can be during missions, but he couldn't help but let out playful and snooty remarks when they were winning. And he couldn't help but fall into the others loving trance when cuddles were called for.

He was no doubt clingy too, but mainly when he was tired. He liked to fall asleep on Changbins shoulder, Felix and Seungmin's laps, Chan and Jisung's chests, and wherever with Jeongin. As for minho, well, it was a rarity. But even then, it was comfortable. _Sometimes_.

Minho was fun to be around, most of the time Hyunjin would get bullied but he was no less fun to be around. That 'bully' mentality definitely carried over to missions. Minho was keen to taunting their enemies during missions, his catlike tongue just let whatever slip. While at home he was very Tsundere. He shows his love in the most discreet ways. Although he wasn't good at hiding the pure smile the grazed his face when his younger brothers thanked him or were happy.

If he wasn't with the 'elders' you would surely find him with the younger's of the group. Which wasn't why it was surprisingly see Jisungs attitude on the field be so much like Minho's.

He liked to taunt with the enemies that's for sure, Hyunjin had even caught him purposely singing badly into a captured enemy one time. Which made it very hard to hold in laughter when your supposed to be serious.

But again, out of missions, Big. Loud. Baby. If Hyunjin could hear his yelling from his bedroom on the second floor, he couldn't help but wonder if Chan could hear him from his secluded office. And speaking of the leader, Chan was an all rounder. He was more on the serious side though when it came to missions. Instead of annoying the enemies, he liked to work fast, even shocking some of his brothers when his angry and yelling tone came out.

But his father/older brother side was always on show when at the base. A soft smile would always appear as he would watch his brothers silently as they goofed around. And not to mention the 'father patrol' he had picked up over the years, the patrol where he was the last to sleep, so he'd check each room to make sure his members were safe.

This older brother mentality often rubbed off on Changbin, who even if he was younger then Minho, acted older in some situations. Hyunjin liked to call Changbin Chan's wingman, or the second in command. With Changbin being one of Chan's oldest friends they were often found together, talkingabout missions and future plans. And if they were doing either of those, it wasn't uncommon to find them working out.

And then there was felix, who Hyunjin calls the cuddle bug. Although he doesn't cuddle Hyunjin as much as Jeongin, Felix is an all rounder for cuddles. Jeongin mainly cuddled Hyunjin and Seungmin, so Hyunjin felt it was only right to give Felix the title.

But put Felix on a mission and the cute fluffiness is gone. He's very serious and doesn't tend to talk to the enemies, he always claims that 'it's a distraction' and 'could lead to someone getting hurt.' Which maybe has something to do with Felix not fully trusting him self in battle seeing as he makes no moves to shut up the taunting members.

In the end, they all worked together well, which sometimes surprised Hyunjin in seeing how different some of their personalities were.

"Whoa Hyunjin what the fu-"

"Language Jisung." Seungmin was quick to cut off the bad mouther upon Hyunjins stroll down stairs.

He figured he'd been in his cave for too long and it was best to come down and show off the new hairdo.

"Ah what i mean to say was Hyunjin you look great, as much as i hate to say it, but great!" Jisung blabbered, both Hyunjin and Seungmin rolling there eyes seeing as the younger couldn't just say a normal compliment.

"Thanks Sung." Short and simple, as much as he liked the reactions, Hyunjin didn't want to seem too self absorbed.

"When did you dye it?" Seungmin asked, staring at the pitch black with silvery sheens laced throughout that had become Hyunjins hair.

"A couple of hours ago, i was bored." Hyunjin sat down on the floor in front of Seungmin who was sitting on the edge of the couch.

To Seungmin this was an obvious sign. He sighed but couldn't help but smile as he grabbed pieces of the boys hair and playfully braided them. They would simply fall apart after he finished, but he could tell it was relaxing when Hyunjin slumped against his legs.

"I heard what happened earlier..." Seungmin started, as if to test the waters as he waited for a response.

"Yeah, what about it?" Hyunjin slurred, obviously comfortable.

"You okay?" He knew Hyunjin's emotional state, a snow crystal in the harshest situations, shattering if not taken care of properly, shattering if words that would bounce inside his thoughts for ages were said.

"I mean, as good as i can be. I guess it is a bit comforting to know your mother is on your side." Seungmin could hear the unsureness laced in Hyunjins tone.

"But at the same time you don't know if you can trust her." Seungmin spoke softly, Hyunjin stiffening against his legs. He was right, and had seemed to read Hyunjin like a book.

"Yeah..." Seungmin continued playing with the boys hair, well until Jisungs quietness came to a halt and he whined until he could play with it.

"Gosh your such a baby, he lives here you know? You could play with his hair anytime yet you choose to do so when i'm playing with it!" Seungmin complained.

Hyunjin couldn't help but laugh about the fact that his teammates were literally fighting over his hair. He felts the legs he's was leaning against get abruptly shoved aside, a new pair, though much shorter, replacing them.

And soon hands returned the the birds nest that was now his hair.

>•<

_Dress appropriately_ , Chan had said, and boy did Hyunjin hate the outfits he had to wear sometimes. He wouldn't lie and say they didn't make him look cool, but sometimes it was just too much. But thankfully, the outfit he wore during most missions, was cleaned.

It was now the day of the trade mission and Hyunjin couldn't help but grumble at the realization that it was going to be a long night.

Nevertheless, he pulled his favorite pair of black sweatpants out. What made them his favorite was that they weren't your average pair of sweatpants. They were an add blend of cotton, making the movement easy, but they had straps around one lower thigh that clipped onto a low pocket, the other side doing they same but in a higher location. On his right side there was a pocket area made of many tiny pockets.

He mainly used this side for his knife holder and many other small unnoticeable weapons. Then on his left side were two sets of chains attached to the belt loops, one higher than the other.

He then moved over to grab a fleece black turtle neck that had short sleeves. It was a bit snug, but snug to where it was comfortable to move in. After tucking in into his shirt, he then grabbed his black combat boots and put those on. Deciding against mainly no jewelry, he only left on his cross necklace.

Lastly he just left his hair down, it was a bit wavy, but it would do. It allowed the silver to mix nicely with the black, creating little wisps.

Making his way downstairs, Hyunjin was quick to notice that he was actually the 4th person to be ready.

_This is a first._

But seeing as the others made no love to make a joke about the uncommon timing of Hyunjin's presence, he stayed quiet himself. But in the time span of 15 minutes, each of the other members had filed down the stairs and were ready to go.

The car ride over to the suspicious building was awfully quiet, but it was just nerves because Hyunjin too had them. He got nerves for every mission, all of them did. Sure they lived what they did, but every mission had a mystery outcome. They always hoped for the best, but even they couldn't always control it.

The buildings location even forced them to drive down an old dirt road through the forest. It truly was an abandoned warehouse, but Hyunjin was starting to believe it was probably more on the barn side.

Having the window seat allowed him to look out into the darkness of the forest. It seemed so still yet he knew the creatures that wondered it. He even felt as if he could see the bright eyes of the nocturnal staring back at him.

The beaten down warehouse finally came into their view. It was beaten down to where pieces of the roof were missing, rays of moonlight shining through. It would've seemed like a peaceful place the way the moon seemed to rise above it, lighting up the metals. That is if not for the reason they were here.

"Alright, Seungmin and Jeongin i want you guys to stay here and monitor. Make sure eyes are always on the camera attached to the van as well as the cameras on our ear pieces. Have a weapon ready at all times just in case too." Chan instructed, opening his door and hopping out, his pant chains chiming.

Soon enough each of them were walking towards the warehouse. Not knowing how this would turn out, they didn't have the choice of being stealthy and having to look out.

Hyunjin opened the warehouse door on Chan's go, it high pitched, old squeaks hollering out. A man, who Hyunjin guessed was Kim Chinhwa, stood basking in the moonlight. The light giving off small highlights of his features, otherwise the man seemed dark.

"Bang Chan! Good to see you! I hope you've brought the money for our deal, yes?" He gleefully spoke, seeming to be cocky for some reason, at least to Hyunjin.

"Of course, i'm a man of my word. 3.75 Million?" Chan checked, making a movement that seemed like bicep curls with the suitcase that held the deal breaker.

"Your free to double check, that is if you have the patience to count." Chan remarked, a scoff coming from Chinhwa.

"I'll take your word on that Mr. Bang. Now if i'm correct, 150 rounds of 25 bullets was your request?" Chinhwa presumed, the cocky smile still bound to his face, pissing Hyunjin off even if he was a good guy.

"I'm sure all of these bullets will be super handy, well i hope to say the least." Chinhwa chuckled, setting Hyunjins nerves off more, the same attitudes radiating off the others behind and around him.

"So how do we go about this? Hand then over at the same time?" Chan questioned, tired of the mans annoying tone.

"No it's okay, i trust you. I'll hand mine over first and then you hand over the cash. You said your a man of your word, so i have no doubts in your leadership." Chinhwa continued to sneer, only the glints of his eyes visible with the moonlight.

Chan nodded, making his way over to the ambitious man, who seemed to be waving the suitcases of bullets around in excitement. Once Chan stood in front, Chinhwa handed him the two suitcases, then left his hand out in an impatient manner as he waited for Chan to do the same.

Which he did, he was a man of his word, even if the man irked him.

" _Hyung's, Something isn't right. There's movement in the shadows, he's not as alone as he's giving off._ " Hyunjin heard Jeongin worriedly ramble into their ears.

The creepy smile never faded from Chinhwa, in fact his eyes darted to connect with Hyunjins. Chinhwa's eyes seemed to light up in excitement, but Hyunjin could tell it was an act.

"Hyunjin was it?" He questioned, taking the others off guard as they too turned to glance at said boy.

"Your much more handsome than your father no? I'm sure he's excited to lock such a beauty up so he can take back the glory." Chinhwa began to step out of the moonlight, his footsteps echoing.

"Now put those bullets to good use boys, i'm sure you'll really need them now." Chinhwa echoed, his figure fulling disappearing into the shadows as men piled out of them in return.

Chan immediately recognized one of them, the one in Hyunjins room that night. And he knew Hyunjins mother mentioned someone named Jiwoo to be the leader of their mission, but Chan couldn't decide who that name went to.

"It's such an honor to meet you while your not off in dreamland! And my, there's no lie to Chinhwas words~" One taunted, stepping forward more than the others.

"And good to see you again too, Chan i presume? Oh but how rude of me, you haven't a clue as to who i am!" He continued to rant, the same types of rants made by evil villains who have yet to have their asses handed to them.

"I'm am Jung Jiwoo, and that should be enough for an introduction? Why waste such precious information on you all who won't step another foot from the old rackety building?" Jiwoo cackled, obviously satisfied in his taunts.

Jiwoo was met with pure silence, which made his eyes twitch in anger.

"Hmm, see's as if you lack in the common knowledge to hold a conversation. I guess i shall do the same." Jiwoo then snapped his fingers, the loud popping sound lingering throughout the wide space.

But as soon as Jiwoos fingers connected, the men behind him surged forward, the rays of moonlight seeming to bounce as the went over each body that ran under them.

Each Kid was immediately thrown into battle, facing from one to three enemies at a time.

" _Chan Hyung we can't come help! More have surrounded the building! What do we do?!_ " Chan heard Seungmin screech in his ear.

Chan grunted, dodging a blow to his abdomen and kicking the attacker in the chest, sending his backwards and into two others.

"Guys please stay calm, just keep watch on the situation, that's all you can do." Chan responded, having to quickly move again to dodge another swing.

Hyunjin hastily fought off each man that came his way, sending kicks, punches, knife swings, anything. There were times were he'd wince when he had to use the type of violence that drew blood, but right now, his thoughts were moving so quick. His head was on a swivel as he looked in many directions to keeps eyes on his attackers. So, making sure to not be too violent wasn't an option.

Pulling out the blade Chan had given him, he had no choice but to use it.

Seeing a mans neck at his arm swing height, he swung, the knife swiftly cutting through the skin of the mans neck. He made weird gargling noises before crumpling to the ground. Hyunjin moved on to the next.

The amount of men seemed never ending as Hyunjin felt his stamina lower. Most of his moves were still on point, connecting with whatever body part, but some had become sloppy.

He wanted so badly to tie his hair up now as it would stick to the sweat growing on his forehead. But he had no time to seeing as any second he looked away, someone would rush him.

Knocking down another guy, he saw Jiwoo prowling his way over to Hyunjins space, A sinister grin placed on his face as he did. Jiwoos face just pushed Hyunjin to fight harder, he knew he would be facing the levels boss any time now.

"Not too bad handsome~" Jiwoo toyed, pushing the man Hyunjin was fighting out of the way.

" _He's mine._ " Jiwoo seethed, sending glares to anyone who had Hyunjin in their sights, making them instantly back off.

Then without question, Jiwoo jumped towards Hyunjin, Knife in hand. "I don't think your father would mind if i gave you a few scratches." Jiwoo spoke, venom incasing his words.

With Jiwoos attack being so obvious, Hyunjin easily dodged, but with his doge he wasn't ready for how quick Jiwoo turned back around with a slash.

Hyunjin gasped as the blade hit his chest, tearing straight through his shirt and no doubt his skin. He was correct when he could feel the blood dripping down and soaking into his shirt.

"Strike one! Three strikes and your out!" Jiwoo teased, circling Hyunjin like he was his prey.

Hyunjin scoffed, taking a leap towards Jiwoo which he knew Jiwoo would predict. But what he wouldn't predict was as soon as both of Hyunjins feet were bolted to the floor, Hyunjin would move his foot into a space Jiwoo planed to step back into.

And once again, Hyunjin was right as he watched Jiwoo trample over his foot, his back colliding with the ground with a groan. Seeing as his enemy was now grounded, Hyunjin took a downward swing, Knife is stab position.

Jiwoos eyes widened for a second seeing the weapon flying towards him. And just in time, sadly, he rolled over, the blade making a clank noice as it jabbed the floor.

With Jiwoo's thought of being in the clear, Hyunjin immediately sent his knife in the direction of Jiwoo once again. The blade scraping Jiwoos shoulder, causing a curse to rise from Jiwoo.

He quickly bounced back up and sent a kick to Hyunjins chest, who was now toppling over onto the group. He quickly rolled and got up, not letting his eyes leave Jiwoo. When up on his feet again, he charged.

Jiwoos smirk made his worry the slightest, but never the less, once in arms length, he sent his right fist in the direction of Jiwoos face. And as soon as he saw Jiwoos left arm make movement, he knew he made a mistake to let his eyes wonder from that arm.

Jiwoos arm swing upward, the blade in hand now coming into contact with Hyunjins side, this time an actual stab.

Hyunjin gasped and back away with wavered steps.

"Strike two~" Jiwoo sang. Hyunjin had officially agreed this man was a psychopath. How he smiled and got all giddy at the sight of people in pure pain.

Hyunjin felt the pain shoot through his body, along with the blood the soaked that side of his shirt. But he wasn't backing down. 3 strikes meant a strike out, but Hyunjin was still at 2. He could do this.

Pulling another blade from his side pocket, he now ran at Jiwoo, dueling two knives. And again, Jiwoo just smirked, satisfied in Hyunjins anxious attempts.

With Hyunjin running back at him, Jiwoo sent a punch that he hoped would collide right with the boys face. Except it didn't, Hyunjin grabbed it, not bothering to stop the blade he was also holding from tearing into Jiwoo's skin. He quickly twisted that arm around Jiwoo, pushing him to the ground as he pinned the arm down.

He could feel Jiwoo struggle under him, pained gasps from the positioning of his arm. With Hyunjins other blade wielding hand, he brought it down to Jiwoos neck, insuring that any move made, he would end him.

That is until he felt a searing pain in his thigh. Looking down at it, he saw a small blade sticking out of it, and Jiwoos hand now next to his thigh after achieving its mission.

He felt Jiwoos laughter from under him.

"That's strike three pretty boy."

Hyunjin didn't know what that meant, nor did he want to find out. But he wasn't given any time to adjust to the situation. A small pinch was felt in his neck, and slowly turning to the direction it came from, he cursed at himself.

He was so focused on Jiwoo, and how Jiwoo had told the others to back off, he hadn't watched his surroundings. Because now, standing a few feet from him was another man, pipe in hand in which Hyunjin could only guess he had used to shoot a dart.

A dart, which by the blackness that was drowning in the corners of his eyesight, would put him under. He quickly scrambled off of Jiwoo in an attempt to find anyone on his side before he passed out.

His legs wobbled and his vision got darker as he, what felt like, raced off.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast pretty boy." He heard Jiwoo taunt as both of his arms were grabbed and he was dragged back. Turns out he hadn't moved much at all.

Jiwoo held him tight, both his arms wrapped around him as Hyunjins struggles became weaker and weaker.

"C-Chan..!" And with a final pained cry, he went limp in Jiwoos hold. His head falling forward as his legs gave out. The hands that were struggling to push Jiwoo off a second ago gave way and fell limply to the side. 

Jiwoo scoffed. Left go of the boy as he fell over without a give, landing with a thump on the floor.

"Carry him out, we're done here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to add a Hyunjin relationship. So please comment whether you want Hyunjin with Changbin, Chan, Minho, Felix or Jisung. I would add Seungmin and Jeongin but where they are, in the van, that wouldn’t work. Sorry my SeungJin and HyunIn shippers, my heart broke too dont worry. I kinda want to do ChangJin but lemme know! <3  
> *Pls comment so i can go on with writing chapter 8!*


	8. Captives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No longer giving summaries, you just have to expect the unexpected:)
> 
> **Also, I miss Jinnie pt.2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Also, the relationship has been chosen. I chose whoever had the most comments. So i’m sorry if you don’t like who is now going to end up paired with Hyunjin(Minho). But please note that this relationship isn’t going to be crazy lovey dovey. It’s just there for comfort and soft parts. All the members will still be close to one another**

" _Carry him out, we're done here._ "

Jiwoo suddenly appeared in Chan's vision. Jiwoos face contorted with worry as he opened his mouth to speak,

"Fall back!"

Confusion now clouded Chan's thoughts. Why were they retreating? Just by using your sight you could see the great difference in numbers amongst sides. Nevertheless, Chan let out a relieved sigh.

Enemies brushed past him in a rush to get out, some intentionally having the last blow as they kicked or hit him. He didn't mind it, as long as they were leaving. But he couldn't help but worry about their sudden escape.

"What's going on Hyung?" Felix Asked, his hair tussled and dirty, scratches littering his body.

Taking note of his own self, Chan realized he himself wasn't far off from the state of the boy.

"I don't know actually, but i can't find a reason to complain right now." He responded, watching as the others came up to him, their fatigue visible.

The room had now gone quiet with Forstrayers retreat. _Too quiet_ , Chan thought. Taking notice of the two cases of bullets, that just by their weight, Chan knew were still full, he picked them up with a groan, and made his way towards the exit.

"I can't wait to fall into the comfort of my bed." He heard Jisung whine, his feet dragging with each step.

And that's when it hit Chan. How in gods name was he so blind. Quickly whipping back around, startling his members, he wanted to scream. After counting, his eyes worriedly traced the room, looking for any clue or reason.

"Hyung? What's wrong?" Changbin asked, walking up to put a comforting hand on Chan's shoulder. Even if it did no good in the end.

"Where's Hyunjin and Minho?” Chan desperately pleaded, now his eyes traveling to each boy in front of him for answers.

Now taking note of the two missing members, Jisung whipped around, just like Chan had done, desperately looking for the two.

"I-I don't know!" Jisung cried out, two glints of light catching his attention shortly after.

He raced over to see blade on the floor, shining under the moonlight. He picked it up, feeling the hilt as him fingers grazed someone's certain initials.

Jisung turned to Chan, pain in his eyes as he handed over the blade. He then turned back around, picking up the other glint; a dart. Pieces were fitting together and he wanted to cry out into the sky.

The others heard Chan curse upon the sight of the dart and Hyunjins knife. "This isn't good, any signs of Minho?”

Chan got multiple shaking heads." _Hyung! They have Hyunjin and Minho!! We just saw them carrying them out!_ " Seungmin shouted in the ear piece, causing all four to wince.

But no words needed to be spoke as they all rushed out of the warehouse to find any sign of the opposing side.

"Get to the van!!" Chan shouted after seeing multiple vans pile down the dirt road, gaining speed by the minute.

The four then bombarded their van, jumping in and loudly slamming doors, this time, the two inside flinching at the sudden company. Chan quickly sat down at the wheel and stepped on the wheel, the tires squealing in protest.

Just like the other vans, The SKZ van too sped off, dust flying behind it.

"Hyung what just happened?!" Jeongin begged, he sat in one of the seats closets to Chan for this reason.

Chan's eyes never left the road, his foot continuously pushing down on the gas pedal to gain speed. "It was an ambush. We ran into Jiwoo and a shit tone of Forstrayer members."

He heard Jeongin growl in frustration, which Chan felt immensely, for he too wanted to scream and shout and curse at the world. Or how he'd give anything to have the ability to send a bullet right through Hyunjins dads forehead. Chan hated how the image of that man dead brought him sincere happiness, but he figured he now had a valid reason to be so.

They were gaining on the closet van, which just made Chan force the gas pedal down to go faster. He could hear Jisung in the back attempt to lighten the mood by saying "At this speed we will travel to the past."

Which if such thing did occur, Chan wouldn't complain at all seeing as he knew how the future would play out and he could make serious changes.

But he couldn't help but feel at fault for the whole situation. He agreed to make this trade, he brought everyone along, especially Hyunjin who he should've left in the van for this mission. He hated how now, Hyunjin and Minho we're in Forstrayers hands and who knew what they'd do to them. He felt his hands tighten in anger on the wheel.

"CHAN!!!" He was knocked from his thoughts when he was able to see the moving van in front of them was no longer moving. He panicked and swerved the car to the right, it driving straight into the trees instead.

The impact made them all jerk and be tossed around. The window shattered and computer monitors fell from where they were bolted in. And even in Chan's spotted vision, the sparks coming from all the electrical devices was no good.

"Out! Out! Out!!" He shouted, ushering everyone out the _back doors_. It pained him when he had to help a couple members out, like Felix who now had a decent sized gash on his forehead, his vision spinning. He had to take a couple trips to get everyone, who was now in a daze, out and far from the Van.

Helping the last one out, he took one last glance at the interior of the van. It was definitely going to blow any minute now. The sparks and smoke were getting more violent. The heat and sparks would soon go through the floor and hit the gas tank, causing in a catastrophic boom.

Chan quickly helped Seungmin get away from the site, and to where the rest of his group lay bundled in a pile. And like Chan predicted, he heard the Van combust behind him, the impact and heat throwing him and Seungmin slightly forward.

"Fuck!"

Chan laid Seungmin down into Jeongin's open arms and looked over to the frustrated Jisung, who after following his line of vision, Chan felt some fiery of his own.

The vans they were once following were now out of sight. Sighing, Chan gave his attention to his group. "Are you guys okay?"

He got multiple groans as his response. No one seemed to be terribly injured, definitely some gashes and soon to be bruises, but mostly everyone was shocked with all of the nights events piling up.

"So we lost Hyunjinnie Hyung and Minho Hyung..." Chan turned to Jeongin, who's eyes were brimming with tears that glimmered in the moonlight. They all knew the answer was quit obvious, but still admitting to it hurt.

"No, we will get them back." Felix growled, doing his best to suppress the tears that wanted to fall.

Chan nodded, "Felix is right. And i already know who we can talk to about all this." The lost eyes that met his own seemed to beg for his plan, beg for the reassurance that their members would soon be in safe hands.

"Hyunjin's mom." It was simple enough that the sad looks turned hopeful.

>•<

Hyunjins head hurt like hell and he couldn't quit fingers out why. Maybe he was sick? Maybe that's why his body felt so weak and unable to move? He couldn't quit wrap his head around anything because any thought seemed to drill yet another hole in his head, doubling the pain he already felt.

His room seemed dark for what he though was supposed to be morning time. Had someone closed the curtains? Maybe Chan did on his nightly rounds? He didn't know. And he didn't know why his blankets felt so light and seemed to give him no warmth.

Opening his eyes he was met with pitch black, the only light source being light that travel under what he guessed was a door. Wait, where the fuck was he.

The nights events suddenly blasted through his throbbing head. Going on a mission to get poison bullets, that being a set up and fighting Forstrayer instead. After his fight with Jiwoo everything seemed to go blank.

Finally understanding the reasoning for his restricted movement, he looked down. The chair he was in was a lot similar to the room they had for prisoners; a metal chair bolted to the floor. It had metal cuffs on the front two chair legs to hold whoever's legs in place.

And due to there being no arm rests, the other two cuffs were on the sides, these meant for your wrists.

So in a sense, his feet and wrists were cuffed in while a tight rope wrapped around his chest and shoulders, probably for extra security. He fought at all the cuffs, attempting to kick his legs and lift his arms, all to no use. Even the rope wasn't moving, just digging into his skin even more.

He wondered how long it had been. Hours? Minutes? Days? Surely not weeks or months right? His group would have found him by then, right?

"Jin is that you?"

It was so dark and he'd been so busy checking the situation that he hadn't registered another being in the room.

"Jinnie? It's Hyung, It’s Minho.”

Minho’s voice was now registering and sounding more familiar. But wait, if he was here too, were the others?!

"H-Hyung...did— did we lose?" Hyunjin stammered, the situation now heavily weighing on him.

"I'm afraid I don't know Hyunjin."

With his eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, he could see Minho across the room, although his setup was quite different. Instead, Minho sat on the floor with his feet and hands zip tied and then like Hyunjin, his upper chest tightly tied in rope.

"A-Are you okay—at least?"

The other pains were now becoming very alive and Hyunjin seemed to feel everything; the stabs, the gashes and bruises and even the smallest of cuts.

"I few cuts and bruises here and there, nothing i can't handle."

Hyunjin wanted to laugh at Minho’s cockiness that seemed to take an uprising in such event. Though he was thankful that his Hyung was trying to make him smile at times like this.

"How about you Jin?"

Hyunjin heard Minho attempt to shuffle over with loud huffs, ending up right next to Hyunjin where he could lean against the chair.

"I think i'll be okay, i am tired though."

He was hoping his tiredness wasn't an effect of the blood loss that he was sure was still happening.

"I think i can clearly see the cause of your tiredness...." Minho pointed out, nodding his head in the direction of the chair.

Hyunjin looked down to see blood trailing down his chair, small pools of it at the bottom of the chairs legs. He winced at the sight.

Suddenly the door was pushed open, light seeping through as two men walked in. And even with the darkness that still casted over the room, Hyunjin already knew the two of those bodies like the back of his hand.

"Hello you two, sleep well i hope?" Jiwoo asked, Changho instantly putting a hand out in front of him to shush him.

Minho growled at the sudden visitors, Jiwoos eyes moving over to give Minho a menacing glare and of course, a smirk.

Hyunjins father cleared his throat, and Hyunjin felt weird knowing he was about to hear his fathers voice again. But it wouldn't come as a fatherly tone, it was one of an enemy now.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Hyunjin?" Hwang Changho, the one person Hyunjin hadn't wanted to see since the moment his secrets were revealed.

Hyunjin didn't respond. He knew his dad was just trying to work him up. But even then, he was too tired to even care. After seeing them walk in he allowed his eyes to travel to the floor where they would remain until further notice.

"Ah yes, the silent treatment. I would have expected nothing less from you." Changho shook his head in disappointment.

With Hyunjin glaring holes into the floor, he saw Minho give him a concerning look from his position on the floor. Hyunjin just wanted to get his Hyung out of here after receiving his look. Minho didn't deserve to be here, not in his fathers menacing hold.

"Jiwoo, would you take Minho to the room next door?"

Hyunjin immediately tensed. He knew they do something to hurt Minho. He looked down to meet Minho with worried eyes, but Minho could only give Hyunjin a reassuring smile in return. One that said _I’ll be okay_. Yet, this did nothing to calm Hyunjin down. In fact, it pissed him off even more as he began to thrash around again.

"No! Stop! Touch him and the second i get out of the damned chair your head will fall to the floor!" Hyunjin seethed, still thrashing as the restraints made no sign of freedom.

Jiwoo grinned and continued to walk forward, grabbing Minho by his wrists and yanking him up. A yelp surged from Minho, Hyunjins anger only continuing to bubble. He wanted to be scared, but as of right now, he wasn't in danger, Minho was.

Minho protested as he was dragged out of the room, shouting the same threats Hyunjin had a second ago, "Don't you dare touch him! I'll kill you if you do anything to harm him!!" hi shouted echoed as he was forced out of the room and down the hallway.

Once the two were gone, Changho shut the door, then walked back to his spot in front of Hyunjin. He towered over the boy and that didn't help Hyunjins nerves.

"I never expected you to show up like this after three years." He began slowly pacing back and forth in front of Hyunjin.

"Three years later and i find you in this kind of industry! Where did i go wrong? Where in my parenting did you stray?" Hyunjin glared at his father, his anger taking a spike again as he finally found his tongue.

"How dare you basically call me a mistake! How dare you when you're no better then i am! You lead the most dangerous mafia for crying out loud!!"

_Slap_.

Hyunjins face stilled in the direction it was violently hit towards. The cool numbness of his cheek after impact turning to heat and sting. He slowly turned his head back to face his father, the man basically steaming.

"Don't you talk to me like that, i'm you father!"

Blatantly ignoring the mans requests, Hyunjins fire continued to spark, "That title flew out the window not too long ago. But even now, there's no use in bringing it back. You don't deserve that label." Hyunjin spat, his fiery filled eyes burning into his fathers.

Changho seemed to straighten himself out after being called a stranger. "Ah yes, what am i doing. I guess we are in the same boat for as the second i heard what you were part of you were no longer a son of mine." he spoke with no anger, yet calmness and casualty.

With the sudden silence making Hyunjins skin crawl, he attempted to loosen or break his restraints. The metal cuffs were no digging into his skin, some blood being drawn as deep lines were formed from his struggles.

His father only watched him in what he figured pity. Changho didn't expect him to get anywhere with his restraints, yet second guessed when he saw the ropes start to aggressively rub against the chair, wearing them down.

He sprung into action, quickly whipping a gun from his side, not even taking a second to double check his aim as he shot. The sound bouncing off the walls as the rest of the room was silent.

Hyunjin gasped, pain shooting through his upper knee. He'd never been shot there, and now with having been shot there, he wished he never had been. It felt as if his knee bones shattered, which they probably did, as the bullet drove straight through, splitting anything in its way.

He had realized it had gone all the way through when the small metallic bounces were heard as it hit the floor. Hyunjin cried out, the pain adding on to all the others, and with his hands cuffed down, he could do nothing but force the tears to remain unmoved.

"Can't even take a bullet wound? Come on, i knew you were weak but seriously?" His father taunted, his mood seeming to brighten seeing his son in pain.

Hyunjin wanted to tell him ' _Oh really?! If it isn't painful, let me shoot you in your knee cap then!_ ' but he figured that would only lead to his other knee writhing in pain.

His father continued to pace around, spinning the gun around on his finger, the safety not even on. "So what's y'all's plan over in Stray kids hmm?" Hyunjin scoffed, as if he'd get an answer.

Hyunjin bit the inside of his cheek, enough to taste his copper tasting blood. He was considering his situation, which wasn't good, but neither would be spilling out his teams secrets.

Hyunjin shrugged his shoulders calmly to make it seem as it was no big deal. This only pissed his father off more, who ended up shooting the wall as a 'warning.' which even that wasn't fair, he'd already had his warning shot to Hyunjins knee.

"I don't have all day boy, and unless you even want to breathe in the next hour i suggest you spill." Oh how his father tried to be intimidating, but this just led Hyunjin to laugh.

If Changho could have set aflame in anger he would've. No longer being able to handle his sons cocky ass, he walked over in stomps. Aggressively untying the ropes and unlocking the cuffs. Hyunjin thought maybe he'd annoyed the man to his limits, but that was short lived.

Changho gripped Hyunjin by the collar of his shirt, somehow picking him up. "I tried to miss you, but now your just like what your mother has become, _Annoying_." And with a swing, Hyunjin was thrown into the opposite wall.

His head had collided more to his liking, the room instantly swirling with stars. But he had to push it away, his father just undid his restraints and he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

With his father getting closer in his blurred vision, Hyunjin used the wall to hoist himself up. Regret, Instantly. The pain from the bullet wound and the stab came back to life, the stars worsening. But he had to get out. He broke out into a pained run, knee failing on him each time he used that leg.

He heard his father laugh as he reached the door, _locked_. "I'm smarter than you Hyunjin, but even then, no one should be dumb enough to leave a door unlocked when freeing their captive."

Hyunjin banged on the door violently, it wouldn't get him anywhere but he hoped. The feeling i'm being trapped truly overcame him, and he felt how he did that night that started it all. He couldn't control the tears that fell down his face.

They were silent cries, or at least that's what he thought, he couldn't tell over the banging of the door.

_I'm done for, i'm going to die by the own hands of one i used to call family._

Then by the grace of gods, the door opened, Minho appearing on the other side. Minho was immediately worried by the looks of Hyunjins condition, but couldn't focus on that due to the man stomping over.

Minho grabbed Hyunjins hand, pulling him out as he raced down the hallway. He looked back, pained to see Hyunjin struggle to keep up.

"Please Hyunjin, i know it hurts, just work with me here okay? I'll get us out of here." Minho turned his face forward again, searching for any means of an exit.

When Jiwoo had dragged him into another room, it didn't take long for him to escape. He was an escape artist, although that was mainly due to TikTok and actual experiences. But as soon as he got free, all it would take was a single landed punch to distract Jiwoo. And thus after doing so, he ran. He ran until the pounding on the door got louder and louder, the pleas ringing in his ears.

Minho could hear the men racing after them. Still holding onto Hyunjins hand for dear life, he reached into his secret pocket, one hidden with the black on the inside of his shirt. Praying to himself he pulled out the spare ear piece.

Turning it on and placing it in his ear he immediately spoke, "Hello?! Can someone hear me??"

Although most of the time the ear piece could only contact others if more ear pieces were in use, there's were special. In fact, specially made my t he mastermind himself, Seungmin. Seungmin had worked with all their pairs of ear pieces, making it to where when others were not in use, they would connect to the speaker system and computers at the base.

So for anyone at the base to answer back, all they had to do was press the speak button on the computer.

"Please anyone, is anyone there?!" Surely Minho’s loud pleas would be heard throughout the base by now.

“ _Minho is that you?!_ " He heard Chan shout back, a bit of reassurance laced in his tone, but mainly he was worried.

"Hyung i don't have time for this, track the location of this ear piece immediately!"

Minho felt Hyunjin get slower and slower, his pained cries getting quieter. The pain in Minho’s heart grew. He'd always had a soft spot for Hyunjin, even if it seemed like he was constantly tortured him with tissues. Over time he'd realized it was probably more than a soft spot.

He'd secretly coo at Hyunjin when he was cuddled up or sleeping. He'd get lost in the boys eyes, even if they weren't staring back at him. Overall he had learned over the years of Hyunjins stay was that Hyunjin was just so... _lovely_.

He hated using such lovey and sappy words towards the younger, but it was true. He had watched the younger be a badass during missions and training, but also saw him be such a sweetheart at home.

And now he was having to watch Hyunjin in immense pain as Minho struggled to free them both.

" _Okay! Minho i have your location! Is Hyunjin with you?! Are you both hurt?!_ " Chan was now spewing questions out of worry. He was suddenly overwhelmed with the sudden contact from the two and just wanted to do his all to get them back.

"Yes, Hyunjin is with me. I'm not too hurt but he is, please Hyung, get here as fast as you can!" Minho pleaded as everything started to move faster than he wanted to.

Chan's voice in the ear piece suddenly faded as all Minho’s attention went to the dead weight that Hyunjin had become on the floor. Minho wanted to rush over to him, pick him up and proceed to lead them to freedom, but life sadly wasn't that easy.

He lost the battle just like he had before, a cheating way to win if you asked him. Minho felt the small prick of the dark as it hit his neck. As soon as he felt it, all hope seemed to fade. He knew he wouldn't get far, even less if he had to carry Hyunjin. So doing all he could do, he sat down next to Hyunjins body.

And in his last seconds of consciousness, he had come to realize Hyunjin hadn't passed out due to a dart.

>•<

Jisung worriedly stared at the computer screen as the communication went slack.

"Minho?” Chan, who sat next to him, also was in shock. Both had heard Minho grunt and much more noise before it all cut out.

Not thinking about much of a plan, Jisung abruptly stood up. They had the twos location and that's all they needed. Now they had to run a rescue mission to get both back, _alive_.

"Chan Hyung! Call the others! We have to go save them!" Jisung begged, shaking Chan's shoulders as it was all he could do in his attempt to beg. They had never been in a double knot like this, and now that they were, Jisung felt overwhelmed in every which way.

"Jisung please calm down, we have their loca-"

"Yes, but we don't have time! Would going to that location in a week serve it's purpose if both are found dead?!" he was practically yelling, which he hated doing so when he knew his leader only meant him good.

Chan shook his head, "But we can't run in blind. I've already done that and look where it's got us."

Jisung scoffed, rolling his eyes in announce, annoyed at the whole dilemma and annoyed that his leader always took the blame. No one was blaming him yet the man was too ignorant to realize that. "None of us blame you for that but continue."

"We at least need a plan. We have the location now and can use that to form a plan with the buildings layout."

"But how long with that take Hyung? I understand not wanting to walk in blind, but if we take too long, we are going to lose lives before we even have a chance to save them."

Jisung continued to argue, Chan opening his mouth to speak right when he thought the younger was done.

"Those are my brothers Chan. And if i lose them because we didn't take action soon enough, you'll finally have something i blame you for." And he stormed out, not giving Chan a second to rebuttal.

He slammed the door, allowing further confirmation that he was angry, as if the yelling wasn't enough. Felix came running up to him, his own ears not being deaf enough to ignore the arguments.

"Whoa, Whoa Jisung what's wrong?"

"Freaking everything!" He was blowing up more than he needed too, but again, this situation was new and hurting his brain, physically and mentally. He guessed bump on his head from the Van crash had some partake in that.

Felix grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to stop him and make him fully face Felix. "What happened?" he asked, his face contorted with worry as the bandage on his forehead wrinkled as his face moved.

Somehow Felix was the wall breaker, being in his calming and reassuring presence, your walls wouldn't last a second. And as expected, Jisungs didn't. Tears brimmed his eyes faster than he thought, some already rolling down his angrily puffed cheeks.

"Minho communicated with us by his ear piece." That single sentence seemed to send Felix into a state panic and questioning, just like Chan had been while speaking to Minho.

"Are they okay?! Did y'all track their location?We need to go save them now!" Felix worked fast just like Jisung had done, but Jisung didn't have the heart to tell him their rescue mission wouldn't happen as fast as they want it to. 

"Felix...." Jisung moped, his eyes falling to the floor as Felix stared at his fallen head, puzzled.

"Wait, what? Where's Chan? Why isn't he rushing around like he should be?" Felix questioned, looking around for Chan as Jisungs gaze stayed locked on the floor.

"Chan doesn't want us to head out yet..." He could hear Felix's heels sharply turn as he sped his way back over to Jisung.

"What??"

"You heard him Felix, i don't want us to go yet because it isn't safe." Chan didn't sound the most confident in his answer especially since the younger seemed so fumed, which he rarely ever got in that state.

"What do you mean Hyung?! Some of our family already isn't safe!"

With all the yelling going on, the three had gained an audience. Which made Chan internally groan, he didn’t need the rest of the team against him when all he was doing was trying to protect what was rest of them.

“Felix and Jisung, please calm down. Do you think I want to do this anymore then you do? I’m the leader and part of my family is being held captive. I’m doing this so i don’t possibly lose the rest of you!” His emotions were getting the best of him. And he surely would have cried if it weren’t for the pounding on the front door.

Changbin, seeing as it was best for someone emotionally stable to open it, walked over to get the door. As soon as it was open, Hyunjin’s mother raced in, walking straight towards Chan. “What can i do??”

Chan had called her earlier, but he had completely lost track of time. He needed her help with the forstrayer base layout because if anyone could possibly know it, it was her.

The others, confused as to her sudden appearance, just stood and watched the interaction. Some having a tinge of hope that her information would be valid and helpful.

“I need the base layout. And possibly anything else you could give. I don’t know how much time we have-“

“If any at all.” That earned Hisung not only a silencing galore from Chan, but also Hyunjin’s mother.

“I don’t know how much time we have so i’m a bit rushed and eager on the matter.” Chan finished, still side glaring Jisung.

“I understand. So as soon as you called me up, i had grabbed the map of the layout from my husbands office at home. And from what i’ve learned over the years, the bottom floor, two floors under the first floor, it where they should be. The bottom floor is meant for captives and torturing. So that would be the best place to start.” She paused, fishing the big, folded up map from her bag.

“As for where to break and enter, your best bet may be the Vent system. Sounds cliche i know, but with a separate vent unit running to the bottom floor, it’s connection to the outside is right here.” She point out a location on the outside of the building. The vent seemed to connect to the outside walls on the first floor, right above the ground.

“It’s a vent close to the ground outside. But due to its location, it was also meant to be an escape route if needed. So because of the drop from the first floor to the bottom, they installed a latter in the vent so anyone could use it to climb out and escape. Although, the only people that know of this escape route is the higher ups of Forstrayer, and well, now you.”

She kept pointing out locations on the map, where the vent was outside, and where it would lead you on the bottom floor. “Once on the bottom floor, the vent should lead you to a storage closet, which still keep guard, but there shouldn’t be anyone there.”

The boys nodded and listened. This was there only resort so they needed to take it _all in_.

“And lastly, i’d go at night. That’s also kind of a ‘duh’ but most of the guards move up to the main floors at night. Most captives will be tired and worn out from the torturing they may have endorsed during the day. So the guards don’t feel they have to guard anything.”

Chan turned to face his group, their faces hopeful. “We can go tonight then. That should give us enough time to study this map and and memorize a plan.”

Jisung and Felix seemed to let go of their tense, pent up anger, more relieved that the rescue mission was happening soon.

Hyunjin’s mother turned to give her attention to the whole group, well what remained. “Please save my son. When you do, keep him safe. His father will only continue to use him as a pawn in this mafia world. He will use him to get to you guys, and use you guys to get to him.”

Jisung nodded, walking towards the women after gaining his cool. “We will, don’t worry. And please let us know if you learn anything else, as we will update you as soon as possible.”

Chan agreed with this statement, taking Mrs. Hwangs hand and gently shaking it. “Thank you for all you’ve done. We greatly appreciate it.”

She shook her head and waved her hands. “Please, i thank you. You’ve looked after my son for three years and done more for him then i should’ve as his mother. So it is me who owes you my gratitude.”

She didn’t let any of them debate as she bowed and swiftly walked back out of the house, just as quickly as she had entered. This left the boys even more puzzled, but grateful for her sudden appearance.

Taking note of the silence, Chan turned to his family, Smirk plastered and dimples showing brightly, “Alright then, who’s ready to go save our family?”

The house suddenly became too loud with screams and shouts of “Yeah let’s go kick their ass!!” or “Yeahhhhh!!” or simply just shouts of excitement. Chan immediately regretted hyping them up, but couldn’t exempt himself from the excitement as he too was ready.

Ready to kick some Forstrayer ass and bring his brothers back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? I would love to hear what you guys think of each chapter. Anywho, thank you for reading so far, Luv u all!!


	9. Retrieving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> **Thank you for all the love on this book, seriously it’s crazy. ❣️💗**

The next time Minho woke up his vision was faced with pitch black. The room felt cold and his body was sore. Although he was relieved to find out he wasn't restrained in anyway, besides of course being locked in a room. Which from what he could tell, his new room had a metal door, and he had no doubts there there were a series of serious locks on the other side of the door.

After his eyes fully adjusted, he noticed a lump on the opposite side of the room, but it didn't take him a second to think about who it could've been. Staying on the floor, he desperately crawled over to the figure. Each movement caused a flair of pain in his body and he could've sworn he wasn't that injured before loosing consciousness.

Finally next to the passed out boy, he carefully pulled Hyunjin's head onto his lap, examining the younger. Being reminded of all Hyunjins wounds, Minho checked each one. They had stopped bleeding, for now, but that didn't mean they looked good.

They were all scabbed, the scabbing being a mix of browns and and unhealthy green, compared to the nice reddish pink they should be. Minho needed to find a way to clean them before they made more permanent damage. Minho scanned the rest of the boy, his skin tone a pale that didn't sit comfortably with Minho.

Oh how he hoped the others would be on their way soon. Hyunjin still in his lap, Minho looked over his own self. Definitely more bruises and gashes then he last remembered having. And sadly, a lot of his big cuts didn't fair far off from the looks of Hyunjins.

Being tossed around a dirty, grimy room with no way to clean up wasn't doing them any good. Their wounds were definitely infected by this point.

They needed to get out of here, whether their team came for them first or not. Taking in the rest of the room, Minho noticed a drain in the center. It wasn't big enough for what plans he could've used, but it made him shudder.

He knew they were in some sort of area for captives, so a drain in a dark room meant no good. Heck, they didn't even have a drain in their captive room, but then again, His team was less violent in that category. He could only hope that his own blood, nor Hyunjin's, would be seeping down that drain any time soon.

Giving his attention once again to the unconscious boy in his lap, he was filled with worry once again. Hyunjins breathing seemed to be slower than average, rugged and uneven. And it didn't help that Hyunjin wasn't conscious, he wasn't awake to show signs of being okay.

Even if he wasn't okay, he could've been awake and that was suffice for now. But he wasn't, he was out cold and unresponsive.

Grabbing Hyunjins face in his hands, Minho shook his head and tapped his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Jin, I just need to make sure."

He had figured that the sleep Hyunjin was getting was probably very healing and refueling after the draining events he had been through. But again, Hyunjin's health was more important. Still shaking and tapping his face, Minho went to pinch Hyunjin's nose. Surely he would wake up in a panic when he lost the ability to breath.

15 Seconds went by before Hyunjins eyes shot open, Minho immediately let go. He didn't want to cause more fear when the boy had just woken up. Hyunjin stayed laying in Minho's lap, but his eyes warily scanned his surroundings and he breathed heavily. When he met Minho's eyes, Minho couldn't help but soften.

Hyunjin looked so worried and scared that Minho couldn't help but feel protective. "Hey, It's okay, your okay."

Uncrossing his legs and gripping his hands under Hyunjin's arms, Minho moved the somewhat dazed boy against his chest, allowing Hyunjin to hide away in the crook of Minho's neck. Which Hyunjin gladly did, although it just seemed natural instead of forced.

Everything seemed to hurt the second Hyunjins eyes had opened. Not only was he woken up by the fear of his breathing coming to a halt, but the pain that spiraled through every fiber of his being.

He was trying to stray strong, he couldn't possibly get so weak after what felt like a day had passed. But his heart was cracking with his Hyung holding him like this. It was a comforting hold that just made him was to cry and complain about the pain he was in. Sob about how scared he had become and how he was so sorry for dragging Minho into his life. How he was sorry for even becoming a Stray kid.

How he should've been more careful, that he should've covered up his steps in hiding himself. He wanted to say sorry that he had now made Stray kids a prime target for Forstrayer and it was all his fault.

His face hidden and his emotions overwhelming, the tears fell. They brimmed his eyes as his lip quivered. And rolling down his cheek they left a small wet trail as the reached his jaw line and dropped onto Minho's collar.

With the sudden chill spiking in Minho's neck, he felt that wet tears hit.

"No way. Is Hyunjin, the mighty Hyunjin, crying?"

Hyunjin shuddered in Minho's hold, embarrassment flaring his face as he was caught. The tears never seemed to falter though and they still slid down his face.

"Shut up."

As Hyunjin mumbled that into his neck, Minho couldn't help but chuckle, and could hear the pout on Hyunjin's lips.

"You know i'm just kidding right? It's okay to cry." Minho seemed to hold Hyunjin tighter, the boys back and chest rising in heaves as he continued his tears.

"I-I'm so sorry—this is all m-my fault...."

And there he went, the typical Hyunjin move; blaming himself for everything. And being the playful person he was, Minho wanted to just use tissue paper as a warning. If the boy wanted to continue blaming himself he would soon find tissue paper in his mouth.

But Minho couldn't do that. One he didn't have tissue paper, and two, he didn't think it was right in this situation. It wasn't some playful argument, it was serious. Although Minho never blamed Hyunjin, he knew the boy wasn't in any mood to joke about his feelings.

"I won't argue with you after i tell you this isn't your fault. Just sit there and think about what you could've possibly done. Fully think about that night and realize that there was nothing you could've done, nor was it you who made Forstrayer show up."

Hyunjin wanted to retaliate, make his Hyung realize that he was a bad person and that everything that was happening was due to his existence. But he also knew that Minho would bicker back. So he just continued to sit there in Minho's hold.

He wasn't in the mood to think on the night he was taken, to 'see all that he could've done.' But he would consider it when he was in the mood.

The door to their dark room opened once again, fear making its way through Minho and Hyunjins bodies. _What was next?_

Changho and Jiwoo waltzed in, Jiwoo struggling to contain his laughter from the state of the two in front of him.

But Changho scoffed, "He's already crying? I knew you were too weak to be part of a mafia but damn, it's barely been over a day!"

Minho's teeth gritted together as he listened to Changho trash talk his teammate. And it was suddenly like he had taken previous thoughts from Hyunjins mind, "Okay then, how about you get in his condition and we will see how you fair off, hmm?"

Changho, obvious but taken aback, rolled his eyes, "I've been part of the Mafia world longer than either of you. I've endured bullet wound after bullet wound, stab after stab, yet i'm still standing."

Minho could only act so tough on the ground, but that didn't stop him. "All at once? Or through your 100 years in the mafia, _hmm_?" Minho barked, mocking the mans age.

Changho a chest heaved in frustration, "I've been hurt plentiful times at once i'll have you kn-"

"Then prove it. Get in the state he's in and i don't want to see a wince of pain on your face. Or those tears that you claim to be weak roll down your cheeks."

Minho struck a nerve as Changho growled, seeming to come up with any excuse possible at that moment.

"I see through your plan. Have me hurt and you can use that against me! I'm no fool."

Hyunjin, who had stopped crying and had pulled himself out of Minho's neck, now just resting his back against the others chest, watched in amuse.

"Are you sure about that?"

Changho's death glare changed direction at the speed of light, eyes now searing into Hyunjins own solid ones. "What do you mean _boy_." he seethed.

Now it was Hyunjins turn to roll his eyes. "You may not always be a fool, but what kind of man makes a family when he won't care for it in the end?"

Hyunjin stood up slowly, his legs wavering as pain shot through them. "And most importantly," He slowly walked his way towards Changho, his demeaning glare never faltering as his words were spat venomously.

"What kind of fool doesn't fully check his captives?"

Hyunjin didn't allow Changho to think over what he had just said as he launched towards Changho, a Knife in hand. As Hyunjin had stood up, he was able to quickly pull the hidden knife from one of his combat boots.

Things seemed to play out in slow motion. Minho standing up abruptly after seeing Hyunjins sudden rush, Jiwoo not expecting such movement and standing with his eyes widened, and Changho doing what he could to dodge in such short time.

But even in his attempts, he couldn't dodge enough or fast enough. The blade jabbed into his shoulder blade and Hyunjin left it there as he quickly backed up to grab Minho's hand.

It was another chase scene as Minho and Hyunjin ran down the hallway, this time Hyunjin in the lead. They could hear Changho groan in pain as he pulled the knife from his flesh. But they also heard Changho yell at Jiwoo to chase them instead of take care of him.

With Hyunjins sudden burst of energy, they were sprinting down the hallways, the pain becoming numb as both of them ran.

"Hyunjin?! How the hell?!" Minho easily kept up with Hyunjin, so he ended up shouting next to the boys ears.

" _I'm just no fool_." Hyunjin smirked as he used his fathers words. But he ended up laughing after he spoke, embarrassment knowing those were the words of his father.

"I'm just kidding, i just take a lot of extra precautions, and he was pissing me off so i figured that was the best time to pull it out." Hyunjin winced as they hit a change in the flat surface, bumps in the ground making his knee jerk.

Minho gave him a worried glance but Hyunjin just shook him off. "What's more important is getting out of here."

Minho understood as he continued to follow Hyunjin through the halls, the shouts behind them going from quiet to loud and then repeating.

"Where exactly are we heading?" Minho asked after realizing Hyunjin seemed to know where he was going.

"A storage closet i saw in our first attempt to escape."

Minho wondered how a storage closet would do them any good, but if Hyunjin trusted it, so would he. Taking a sharp turn on a corner, Hyunjin pointed to a old rackety looking door, the storage label rubbing off.

The rushed to the door and quickly opened it, it took some kicks and hard back slams, but eventually it opened. And once inside, Hyunjin turned around and noticed the lock on the door, which he didn't spare any moments to lock it.

"Interesting...." Hyunjin turned to see Minho taking in the sights of the room. Dirty chains and ropes hanging from hooks, neither wanting to know what all made up the _dirtiness_.

Bloodied chairs stacking up in the corners along with bloodied weapons in scattered buckets. Trashcans with flies swarming around them wanting whatever dead thing(s) was in them. A closet in the corner filled with torn and manhandled suits and shoes that had seen way too many murder scenes.

The two shuddered, their storage closet could _never_ look like this.

"Well, get cozy." Hyunjin joked as he found a clean (enough) corner to sit in, the adrenaline finally wearing off.

Minho continued to search the room, but stayed far from anything that had someone else's blood on it.

"Hey maybe in one of the storage bins i'll find some medical supplies." Minho spoke as he walked towards a stack on bins which he hoped had no cut up body pieces in them.

"Maybe." Hyunjin continued to slouch in the corner, counting all his wounds. A stab wound in the thigh, a bullet wound in his knee, a stab in his side torso, a slice in his chest, and a shit tone of bruises. He wondered how he was even remotely still conscious. But then again, most of the major wounds had stopped bleeding, they didn't look pretty or healthy, but they stopped bleeding.

Hyunjin just sat and watched Minho open Bin after bin in hopes of finding first aid. And he couldn't help but giggle as he watched Minho gag after opening a bin. Minho glared at him before quickly putting the lid back on the bin.

"Don't open that one." Minho told him with a pained smile, obviously still holding in a gag. Hyunjin just gave him a small thumbs up as he continued to watch.

Minho was starting to lose hope as he neared the last bin. He'd found bent knifes, broken guns, used bullets and...b-body parts....but no medical supplies so far. But it seemed his luck hadn't run out as in opening the last bin, medical supplies came into his vision.

He caught Hyunjins attention as he did happy little bounces, doing his best to not shout in excitement. He turned to Hyunjin after he pulled the supplies out, "Medical supplies!" His whisper-yelled.

Hyunjin could only smile weakly as Minho quickly walked over to him. Hyunjin shook his hands in front of Minho as the boy squared down in front of him.

"Fix yourself first."

Minho gave him a death glare, "Fix me first? I'm sorry Hyunjin but i have gashes and bruises, you have stabs and bullet wounds." Minho paused to win a stare down with Hyunjin.

"In a short, no way in hell."

Hyunjin had no will to fight back as Minho started pulling out rubbing alcohol wipes, gauze, bandages and tissues. "This might sting." Minho looked at him with pity as he readied a wipe at the thigh stab wound.

Bringing the wipe down the the wound, the stinging sensation took affect immediately as it made Hyunjin just want to scratch and claw at the wound. He groaned and hissed as he clenched his fists because there was nothing else to squeeze.

Minho could only mumble quiet sorries as he continued to rub the stab, some blood coming out in anger causing him to press some tissues against it. After a little while, and finding satisfaction in his cleaning job, he wrapped the wound and moved on to the knee wound.

"Jin these are probably all going to need stitches when we get out. Sure they scab over, but with all the dirt and grime, the scabbing over just makes it worse." Minho noted as he looked at the knee shot, it oozed blood from their previous sprint.

Tearing off pieces of Hyunjins pants to better get to the knee wound, Minho saw how stained red Hyunjin's leg was. It looked like he had killed someone if you couldn't see his own wound.

Hyunjin groaned again as Minho pressed a wipe down on the injury. Out of all of them, his Knee shot seemed to hurt the worst. It was in an odd location and seemed to hit right in the center of the knee joint. So yeah, it hurt like a bitch.

And after groans, quiet yelps, and single tears, Minho finished each of the worst wounds. By the time he was done, Hyunjin seemed to have tired himself out with fighting the surges of pain. Yet still managed a , "Thank you Hyung."

Minho smiled at Hyunjin and moved on to clean his own wounds. None were too bad at the start, but with the infections they were sure to have gained, they were pretty bad. He winced himself as he ran over the many slices and divots left by knives.

But he cleaned himself up rather quickly and felt the same exhaustion Hyunjin felt. He scooted his way into the corner and carefully pulled Hyunjin's head onto his lap.

Having no other ideas but to sooth not only himself but Hyunjin too, Minho tried to creat small talk. "What's something you want Hyunjin."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Hyunjin mumbled as Minho slid his hands onto Hyunjin's scalp, running his fingers through his hair.

"What do you want?" Minho repeated.

"Like anything?" Minho hummed in response.

Hyunjin went quiet, fighting the urge to sleep as Minho's hands continued to massage his scalp. "A dog."

"A dog? Why so?" Minho's hands changed from massaging to braiding, fascinated by the mix of Black and silver the braids created.

"I had one when i was younger. His name was Kkomi. But when he passed, i was at the age where dad were stricter and i couldn't get another one." Hyunjin pouted in remembering the tiny dog pouncing around his room, small barks in demands of play time.

"He just made me really happy, and feel somewhat normal."

Minho tilted his head in question, "Normal?"

"Yeah, almost all the kids i went to school with had a dog. So being in a rich household where maids made your food and cleaned your room, a dog seemed to make me feel like a normal kid, like i fit in with everyone else and wasn't some spoiled brat."

Minho hummed again. His brain moving with all the things he could do. "I'll talk to Channie Hyung then."

Hyunjin's head jerked up the slightest. "What do you mean?"

Minho only smirked, happy in seeing the youngers reaction. "You heard me, i'll take to Chan about allowing a dog in the base."

Hyunjins head slowly fell back onto Minho's lap, calmness taking over in the sincerity of his hyungs words. "You're making me say thank you more times than i've ever wanted to towards you." he joked, his eyelids struggling to stay open.

Minho chuckled and was in no different shape than Hyunjin. His eyes were beginning to close in the comfort of having Hyunjin with him and, for now, being safe.

"Your welcome?" Minho questioned, a small slap to his leg being his response. Minho allowed his shoulders to slack, his body taking in the warmth Hyunjin drove in. And with that, both ended up falling asleep with the tiniest small plastered on their faces.

>•<

"I think this is the vent." Felix pointed to a decent sized vent in the wall that was only a couple feet up from the ground.

"Your right, for the first floor this vent would be useless, the only way a vent would be here is if it were for the lower floor." Chan pulled out the tools he needed and got to taking off the vent screen.

"Keep watch." He commanded as he unscrew some screws that bolted the vent screen in place.

The had also done some digging around to see what measures of security Forstrayers base had. There were a shit tone of cameras on the front and the the sides, but none in the back. But it made sense, the only possible entrance to the building on the back side was the vent. No windows that people could sneak in. So it wasn't much of a worry to watch the back side.

But the other cameras still made it difficult to get to the back. They had to make their own route and get to the back by coming from behind the building.

"Okay done, i'll go last so that i can keep watch, but Changbin will go first so he can lead." The others nodded as Changbin walked forward and carefully climbed into the vent.

Chan cleared his throat the quickly get the attention of the others. "I know we like to joke around sometimes, but let's take this seriously yeah? Let's save our brothers and bring them home, _alive_." he finished, giving a sad smile to Jisung and Felix.

They all nodded as Changbin made his way towards the vent, slowly climbing in.

"Ah Hyung, i see the ladder."

Chan gave a thumbs up as he kept watch, relieved that there was actually a ladder and they would t just fall to their death.

Chan waited and watched the corners and the tree branches sway. He watched for movement and the moon rise higher over the sky. He watched his members backs and them hesitantly climb into a dark vent.

And when they were all through, he made his way into the vent himself.

>•<

With no windows it was always hard to tell how long he'd slept. With no knowing of time it was hard to tell how long it been at all. Was it night time? Day time? A new year? Had weeks passed? Months? Or just days?

Only when his stomach growled did he fully come to. He remembered where he was, his pain, and all the events in the time span of—a time of how long he didn't know.

Minho groaned, his head falling back against the brick wall. "You awake Hyung?"

The whisper of a voice made him look down, Hyunjins head still placed on his lap, said boys tired eyes looking up at him.

"No."

Hyunjin smiled at Minho's sarcasm because obviously his hyung was awake if he was looking back at him. But Hyunjins smile quickly faded when he heard the footsteps pass the storage closet door for the 5th time since he'd been awake.

"They're still looking for us, and i don't think it'll be too long before they check this closet." He whispered, pulling himself up into a sitting position with a wince.

"Hmm. That isn't good." Minho agreed, carefully getting up as to not nudge Hyunjin as he looked for any weapon of use.

A lot of weapons in the storage closet were broken or dull, but Minho was sure he'd find something that would work for now. Going back through the storage bins, making sure to dodge _the_ bin, he came across a couple bins with weapons inside.

"Gun or knife?" Minho asked as he pulled out a knife for himself that wasn't too dulled or dirty.

"Gun, i don't think i'd fair off well with a knife right now." Hyunjin motioned to all of his body, Minho taking his word and digging to find a decent pistol.

The footsteps outside the closet seemed to get louder and closer as both boys froze and stared at the door, as if to anticipate them barging through.

"Have you checked this closet?" Someone asked. The two inside drew in a panicked breath as the door handle jiggled and shook. The door itself being pushed forward and backwards against the lock.

"No but it's locked. Do we normally lock this closet?" The door stopped moving but Hyunjin and Minho still breathed with caution.

"Uh...i don't think so. It just holds trash really, there's no need to lock it." The voices went quiet and that meant nothing good.

The foot steps led away from the door and Hyunjin and Minho finally released a breath. "Here," Minho tossed Hyunjin and hand gun in okay condition. It was a bit rusty and had some cracks, but Minho had not doubt it worked fine.

"I think they'll be back." Minho walked over to Hyunjin to help him stand, which when on his feet, he wobbled a bit, but gained his balance a couple seconds after.

And like Minho had presumed, the foot steps returned and this time, with pounding on the door.

"Shit this is bad." Hyunjin mumbled, axes and other weapons breaking through the door in attempts to get it open.

"Do you hear that?" Minho asked, his ears picking up echoes of metal pounding. Trying to pick up the direction of the sound, his eyes caught the vent partially hidden by some more storage bins.

"I think they are trying to corner us!" Minho exclaimed and when Hyunjin looked at him with a puzzled look, he pointed to the vent.

Hyunjins eyes widened as his whispered a curse to himself. Both stood next to each other in the center of the room, ready for whichever side would break in first.

The pounding on each side got worse. You could now see people through the door with how much weapons had been pushed through.

Hyunjin watched the vent, the sounds getting closer as he set a countdown in his head. The door almost open as Minho did the same.

_3_

_2_

_1_

The vents busted open first, the screen flying off as a body at a time climbed out. Then on the opposite side of the room, the door broke down, men tumbling inside to get their hands on the captives.

"Hyunjin?!"

Hyunjin knew that voice as met the eyes of Changbin who was the first to climb from the vent. He felt a serge of relief and his legs felt like they wanted to give out at the sight of the rest of his team now climbing from the vent.

He had no time to greet his team because behind him Minho grunted as he blocked a swing. "Hyunjin i need you here!!"

He whipped around, turning the safety off his pistol as he aimed for anybody but his own team. Pulling the trigger time after time, bodies dropped. Shots through heads, chests legs, you name it. But it still wasn't enough as more and more showed up in the doorway.

"Need a hand?" Felix popped up beside him, his own gun in hand and the safety already off as bullets shot out.

After the rest of his team filed out of the vent, they scattered around, Chan and Changbin aiding Minho and the rest on their own.

Hyunjin slightly panicked when he realized he was almost out of bullets, he didn't have another weapon and he would be screwed without anything in the center of a battle field.

A nudge to his side made him look Felix's way, "Here." Felix handed him his knife and bullets without even looking his way.

Hyunjin didn't get the time to say thank you as he shoved the bullets in his gun and shot at the man that was only a couple feet from him, the bullet going straight through an eye socket.

_Yikes, that'll hurt._

He turned to thank Felix but noticed that said boy was already forced into combat with a group of forstrayer men. Thinking about how he couldn't thank Felix but always seemed to be able to thank Minho made him smile. How life worked and chose how people followed their paths. Hyunjin was staring to see a pattern.

All of the ruckus surely brought the two new enemies that entered the room.The fighting came to a halt as everyone regrouped and waited for commands.

Hyunjin and Minho were pushed to the back of their group, the others using themselves as a wall. "Well this is a surprise. How did you get in?" Changho prowled, staring down each of the Stray kids.

Chan shrugged, "Dunno, a magician never reveals their secrets."

Changho nodded, looking around the room that was even more dirty than before. Dead crew mates on the floor as blood pooled, no drain in the room to empty it.

"I see, i will admit, you are full of secrets." He rubbed his now wrapped shoulder, the shoulder Hyunjin had rammed a blade right into.

"But even if i have no way of knowing how you got in, there's no way for you to get out." Changho smirked, a crooked tooth revealing itself from behind his lips.

Chan sighed when coming to terms with the truth. This room had to become dirtier to foresee their escape.

"I guess only time and skill with tell." Jisung spoke from his position, flicking one of his throwing knives into an enemies neck. When Changho glared at him, Jisung only pretended to investigate his hands.

"Oops, i guess my fingers slipped."

Like the night in the warehouse, Jiwoo snapped his fingers and the men raced forward. Pulling Changbin back, Chan explained his new plan.

"Our only way out if we don't want to fight all those men is back through the vent. We need to get this plan to them so we can slowly inch our way to the vent." He eyes the vent to make sure it was still open, which it was so he really questioned why Changho hadn't seen it.

After Changbin nodded, the two split up, Changbin going over to Minho and Seungmin first. "For a guy who claims to be no fool, he sure is one." Minho snorted, Changbin agree with a laugh.

"He's just cocky, but let that be his downfall." Changbin taunted as he blocked someone's attack towards Seungmin with a kick to their groin.

"But we have a new plan," Seungmin shot bullet between a guys temple, the guy falling dead besides his intended target, Changbin.

"Our only way out in the vent, so Chan wants us to slowly back our way in that direction. We need to make it subtle though. If we all rush there at once, Changho will for sure notice it." Changbin sent his fist into a guys face, and his leg into another.

While Seungmin shot guys left and right, Minho took to his knife, slicing and dicing anyone in his path. But his attention kept going back and forth between his own battles, to someone across the room.

Is it even a question to wonder who? He watched Hyunjin, who thankfully had Felix next to him, but was struggling. He could tell by the way Hyunjins eyes would scrunch after each movement, and how his aim was getting sloppy. He could only worry how much longer he last.

Minho could see the red seeping through the bandaging he'd done, and that only made the time Hyunjin could last decrease.

He watched Changbin move his way over to the two and probably tell them their plan, which took affect immediately as they moved back slightly to make it look like a dodge.

But Minho had a plan of his own that he was going to make sure was fulfilled; Getting Hyunjin through that Vent. He would make sure Hyunjin made it out of here. And whether it was today or another day, He'd land a punch on that snobby bastards face, Changho.

"Jin you ain't looking so hot." Felix kept taking slow steps back towards the vent, Hyunjin right next to him as he shot his small pistol and swung his knife as any enemies that came too close.

Hyunjin chuckled. He knew what Felix was talking about, but they didn't have time to care, "I'm offended, i think i look pretty good after being held captive."

Felix glared at him as he flipped a guy over, grabbing the guys arm and taking it around. Then moving on to another one where instead of flipping, he took the guys arm so far behind his back it dislocated with a sickening crack.

"You know that's not what i mean Hyunjin." Felix returned to the conversation as if he casually didn't just dislocate someone's arm.

"Yes and you know we don't have time for this." Hyunjin missed his shot, cursing at himself as he had to use his knife instead as his missed target drew nearer.

Felix sighed, this was a battle he was going to lose because _someone_ was too carefree. But if Hyunjin wasn't going to watch out for his health, Felix would.

He hopped in front of Hyunjin and started fighting the guys instead. "What are you doing?" Hyunjin tried to get Felix out of the way so he could fight on his own.

"We came here to ensure you and Minho's safety, so i'm not going to leave this place with you dead okay?" Felix growled, not turning to face Hyunjin as he kept fighting the oncoming enemies.

Hyunjin appreciated it, but the same went for him, he wouldn't leave without Felix. Hyunjin came out from behind Felix and stood next to him, pulling out his knife as he had run out of bullets.

"Same goes for you then." He whispered next to Felix as he passed by the boys ear, making him Jump.

"Hyunj-!"

Hyunjin cut him off with a wave of his hand as he ran towards a guy who was ready with his fists balled. For some reason, Hyunjin had gained a burst of energy and was more than willing to fight the guy.

The guy tried to upper cut Hyunjin, but with a sway of his head, he easily dodged it and sent a punch to the mans lower abdomen. He grunted but didn't give up as he pulled out a knife.

_Two can play that game_ , Hyunjin whipped out his own, proudly wielding it as his gift from the Stray kids leader. With a swing from both sides, Their knives met in the center, now a battle of strength.

Hyunjin pushed forward but the guy did so too, frustrating Hyunjin as he fought for his strength. Seeing as the man was preoccupied, Hyunjin took his good knee and sent it upwards, jamming right into the place that had the man down on his knees and crying out in pain.

Hyunjin moved on, now back at Felix's side who was still fuming at Hyunjins sudden leave. A face very familiar was sprinting towards the two, quickly catching Hyunjins eye.

"Felix move!" He quickly grabbed Felix's arm and pulled him to the side, both dodging a fuming Jiwoo who had a strange weapon. A spiky ball attached to chains that extended and connected to a metal rod. He was swinging it wildly, trying to hit anyone on the opposing side that he could.

"I'm tired of your shit!" Jiwoo roared, his eyes burning holes into Hyunjin.

He continued to swing at the two, Felix and Hyunjin sometimes splitting up to dodge but reconnecting in other attempts to dodge. "Just die already!!"

Hyunjin questioned to sudden rage, what had he even done that pissed Jiwoo off so bad? If anything, it should be the other way around; Hyunjin swinging a spiky ball of metal at Jiwoo.

But it seems he didn't need to ask to find out. "Why?! Why is it always about you?! I've worked my ass off to meet your fathers standards, yet you come crawling back!! Hyunjin this, Hyunjin that, the only thing i want to hear about you is that your **dead**!"

It made sense all at once. Not only was Jiwoo a mad man who loved seeing other writhe in pain and bleed, but wanted to be accepted by Hyunjins father. But even that made him more of a psycho.

"Even if he hates your guts now, your all he talks about!! How he can't wait to kill you, or all the ways he can put you in pain! Why can't he talk about me like that?! Why can't i have such a place in his mind that he would willingly talk about torturing me? Or that i would have the opportunity to die at his hands?!" Jiwoo continued to rant as he swung relentlessly at Felix and Hyunjin.

Felix who looked confused and Hyunjin who was even more scared of Jiwoo now. What kind of obsession did Jiwoo have with His father? And why did he make it sound like Jiwoo wanted his father to beat him?

"Jiwoo i think you need help, and being here isn't going to get you any." Hyunjin pleaded, the quick realization of Jiwoo not being right in the head.

"Need help?! The only thing i **need** is your blood seeping through my fingers as your body lies motionless." The spiked bad came in contact with Felix's chest, knocking him backwards and into Hyunjin, Both tumbling to the floor.

Taking a quick glance as Felix who was groaning, Hyunjin noticed the holes in felix's shirt, the bleeding divots on his skin. Seeing Hyunjins worried eyes, Felix shook his head, quickly getting up in seeing Jiwoo draw closer.

"I'm fine, but neither of us will be if he gets any closer. The vent _now_." Hyunjin got up himself and it seems that Jiwoos commotion brought attention of everyone else towards them. Hyunjin made eye contact with Chan and subtlety nodded his head in the vents direction.

Chan understood as he made the others move in that direction too. With his coast being clear, Jeongin climbed in first, racing up and out, next was Seungmin who double checked his surroundings before climbing in.

With his fists still balled, Changbin quickly knocked out his enemies before racing over to the vent. "They are escaping!!" Changho roared over the loudness of the room.

The remaining kids in the room regrouped and stood near the Vent. If they all raced to it at once they would be screwed and could be shot at or attacked.

Changho stepped forward, a gun in each hand, while Jiwoo stood next to him the Chain mace still in his grasp and ready to be swung. It was a silent stare down as both sides didn't know what move to make. But Felix's impatient shot towards an enemies chest started the brawl.

Yet Hyunjin and Minho were unlucky as they were each faced with 1/2 of the deadly pair; Minho with Jiwoo and Hyunjin with Changho.

"You know, i'm starting to think you may be very helpful on my side." Changho chatted, his guns spinning around his pointer fingers.

"And what are you implying exactly?" Hyunjin huffed, he was tired, extremely tired where even breathing took the wind out of him. His breaths were ragged and some where wheezes.

"I won't kill you right here right now if you join my side. If you choose not to, i not only kill you, but the rest of you rag tag team." Changho suggested, a twisted smirk swirling into his lips. Hyunjin had come to realize he was that villain who just always had a smirk on.

Hyunjin knew what he had to do. At this point, he wasn't doing this to keep himself alive, he was going to do it to keep the ones that truly made him feel happy alive. To keep his true family alive.

"Oka-"

Someone grabbed him arm, jerking him back as a pop went off and his vision went smokey. The person still yanked him in some direction, Hyunjin wanted to protest but couldn't as the smoke shot through his lungs making him cough instead.

Suddenly he was pushed into a tight space, the coldness of the metal surging through his skin. Yet worry still filled him, "Wait-"

He turned his head around to see a smirking Chan behind him. His mind cleared and he understood. He was in a vent. He could hear the others talking as they climbed ahead of him. Behind him the vent screen was back on as smoke filed through the holes.

"How-"

"Smoke bomb." Chan chuckled, ruffling his own hair, "Probably should've done it sooner but i forgot i had it." he smiled cheekily as they got to the ladder and started climbing up.

They climbed in silence, the closer to the top they got the more Hyunjin felt as he could could breath. He wasn't suffocating in the smell of rotting flesh and blood, he wasn't stuck in a storage closet that somehow was able to house all those people as they fought.

Climbing out and into the world he allowed himself to fall flat onto the grass. The grass was cool and comforting, not rough and dirty. But it was short lived as Minho hoisted him onto his back.

"We don't have time to stand around, let's get living." Chan hustled everyone towards a new van hidden in the trees. Hyunjin hadn't even realized they were in the van till he felt the seat under him as he was placed down.

The world was finally slowing down. His mind felt at ease without having to think of a plan, an escape, a what next. His eyes could rest, not having to shoot back and forth to make sure they were safe, that no one was coming, no guns were aimed at the skulls. His legs could heal, no more running, sharp turns, any means to escape.

He watched Changbin pull Minho to sit next to him, which he did and the tiredness seemed to hit once his bottom his the seat. He allowed his head to lull to the side, laying on Changbins shoulder as his eyes dulled.

Chan was driving, the normal. With Jeongin sitting next to him learning the wheel. Hyunjin was pretty sure Jeongin was into racing and had heard him say he wanted to learn to drive to be the get away driver. Jeongin mentioned it made him feel the thrill of being a mafia, the thrill without the kill.

And finally, Hyunjin had gained his own company. Jisung on his left and Felix and Seungmin on his right. He loved them to death, but he had to drown out the Felix and Jisung as they blabbered about how they missed him and that he was alive.

Thankfully Seungmin seemed to notice. He pushed Felix out of the seat and pulled Hyunjin his way, then scoring them both away from the other two. _Gosh, Seungmin is such a lifesaver_.

Quietness filled his ears again, though this time it was comforting and peaceful. A quietness he didn't need to fear. Like Changbin had for Minho, Seungmin allowed his shoulder to become a head rest.

As soon as Hyunjin was comfortable and his eyes were starting to droop, he felt a soft ruffle of his hair.

"I'm glad your back."

The soft and quietness of the voice led Hyunjin to know Seungmin had spoken to him through his hazed state. But he also knew by the tone of Seungmins voice that the boy was without a doubt smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Again, love hearing them ❣️ But also! Do not fear that this is the end. The story is called double knot is it not? They’ve only faced the first knot. Anywho thank you for reading and 800 Hits! Luv u guys!


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